I don't usually get involved in US politics because I feel that - wars aside - no matter how bad people think this country is, the fundamentals are in place for a just society. The same cannot be said for Malaysia, and that is why I remain a Malaysian citizen, so that I don't lose my right to vote.
Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States two nights ago. What surprised me the most was the joy and excitement displayed by people the world over. Africa delighted from having a "son of the soil" due to his Kenyan parentage. The Japanese in a town called Obama were thrilled. A woman in Jordan was moved to tears by Obama's acceptance speech. Indonesians in Barack's former primary school celebrated joyously. Americans in foreign lands found themselves spontaneously cheered just for being American.
That a black (or more correctly, half-black, half-white) man could rise to the most powerful office in the most powerful country in the world spoke volumes about how far America had come from its shameful racist past. People started to believe once more that America was the land of opportunity, where anything can happen. And they looked at their own countries, and started to dream that just maybe, such big barriers could fall where they live, too.
And so the question arose, could a non-Malay/Muslim ever be Prime Minister in Malaysia? Badawi replied, "Anyone can be PM." I, for one, don't believe it will happen in my lifetime.
First, is the racial balance. Demographic predictions have the current US minority groups collectively becoming the majority by the year 2050. That makes white America the minority; surely an unthinkable and unwelcome prospect by many Caucasians from the older generation. Will Malays be the minority in Malaysia? At 53% of the population, it seems likely, but for 2 factors. Our minorities are leaving Malaysia when they can, seeing no hope for equality for themselves or their children. Also, we do not have the immigrant influx that America does, nor are we anywhere as generous with granting citizenship as America is (heck, even my kids aren't Malaysians because I am a woman, which apparently makes me less Malaysian than a man).
Secondly, political parties are not created equal in Malaysia. For us to have a non-Malay/Muslim PM, UMNO needs to fall, and fall hard. Pakatan Rakyat, or some other color-blind coalition, needs to come into power. Their non-Malay/Muslim leaders need to prove their worth to the people. A lot of needs, which will take years to accomplish, particularly combined with our infamous tidak-apa, don't-rock-the-boat attitude.
Right now, I don't really care if a non-Malay/Muslim will be Prime Minister. I care about having laws that are just and creating level playing fields in jobs and education. I wish for Malaysians to be big-hearted and open-minded enough to be color-blind. If these are in place, then the dream of our non-Malay sisters and brothers to be Prime Minister can be reality.
We could learn some lessons from the US electoral process. First, set a firm date. Here, it is the first Tuesday in November, every 4 years. In Malaysia, it's whenever the PM feels it is advantageous to him staying in power. Second, limit the terms a premier can serve. True, if Mahathir had only served two terms, we would not have had the gleaming Petronas Twin Towers nor a thriving non-agricultural economy. Neither too, would we have had the wasteful Putrajaya nor the trivialisation of human rights. Third, let Malaysians vote. It should not matter if we are 10,000 miles away on the other side of the earth. We should have the right to vote in the country where we hold citizenship. If either parent is Malaysian, let their children have citizenship until they are 18, regardless of where they were born. If they choose a Malaysian citizenship, then they can vote when they are 21. And make it easy to register to vote. People should be able to register up to 2 weeks before voting takes place, and rules regarding which district one votes in should be simplified. If one works in KL and is registered to vote in Penang, make it easy for them to re-register in KL, or send in a postal vote.
What I didn't like about the US elections is the amount of money spent. Money in politics is a necessary evil. That's the way it is in the US; that's the way it is in Malaysia. Between Obama and McCain, they spent a mind-boggling US$1 billion on campaigning, breaking the all-time record.
What I found annoying about the US elections is the length of time spent campaigning. First, it was Hillary Clinton vs Obama in the Democratic nominee race that lasted 18 months. Then, 5 months of Obama vs McCain. I didn't follow the campaigns closely but I did watch the parts of the first 2 presidential debates and the Palin-Biden debate. By the time the 3rd presidential debate came around, I was sick of all the spin and truth-stretching. I no longer believed anything that either Obama or McCain said. That is why I was not in either camp, although I leaned towards Obama.
Speaking of camps, the political lines in America are clearly drawn. Generally speaking, if you are a Republican, you believe in conservative values which includes a small government that trusts people to make their own decisions, are anti-abortion and pro-gun-ownership. If you are a Democrat, you are a liberal who believes in a big government that makes more decisions for the people, are pro-abortion and pro-gun-control. If you are in between, you are a moderate or centrist.
I am a left-leaning centrist. I am pro-gun-control but anti-abortion in cases that don't include rape, incest or the mother or baby's health. I previously supported banning all guns, but having been around my husband's family, practically all of whom own guns, I am now pro-gun-control. Because of its history and culture, Americans will not totally give up their guns. My stance is, if you're going to own a gun, you have to be well-trained first. You have to earn the right to own a gun, not just walk into a Wal-Mart and pick one up. You have to go through intensive safety training, not just a background check. If one has to pass various tests to drive a car, why not set high standards for someone to own a gun?
As for big government vs small government, I'm not convinced either one works at all times . A big government makes you feel less in control of your life and basically tells you what to do more often. A small government gives you the latitude to make your own decisions but assumes that everyone will make rational, thoughtful ones. The reality is, every society has its share of crooks and crazies. The financial market collapse caused by greedy financial institutions and a lack or rules to govern them is one example.
And so when people asked who I voted for, the simple answer was, I couldn't vote. If I could, I probably would have voted for Obama. I only listened to a couple of his speeches before the acceptance speech, and it was obvious what an articulate, charismatic politician he is. But I was not going to be taken in by mere words. The truth was that he seemed quite inexperienced for the job, made obvious when he hedged on condemning Russia for invading Georgia.
On the other hand, McCain has a long track record and is a moderate. I like how he's not afraid to go against his Republican party to work with Democrats. I don't believe he is like Bush, and I don't hold being an "old, white man" against him. Unfortunately, he chose Sarah Palin. She energized the Republican base with her good looks and folksy attitude. She appealed greatly to the conservative religious right, a group which rejected McCain eight years ago when he took on George W. Bush in the Republican Presidential nominee race. She is also painfully inexperienced for the Vice Presidential post, displaying a spectacular ignorance of geography and global affairs. This is not to say she's not smart. She seems extremely intelligent, and held her own in the debate against the veteran politician Biden in the VP debate. However, she lost me when she said she supported teaching creationism in schools. That was the deal breaker. I don't mind McCain as president, but the thought of Palin taking over the job if something happens to the 72-year-old man with a history of cancer is simply scary.
I finally connected with Obama on the day before the elections. His grandmother who had raised him, died. That it came within 2 weeks of the 1st anniversary of my own grandmother's passing, touched some raw emotions. When Obama brought up his grandmother during his acceptance speech, I nearly cried. But his whole speech was powerful, and inspirational. If I wasn't on the Obama bandwagon before, I just may be on it now. Witnessing the joy that Obama's selection has brought makes me proud of my second home.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
To follow up from the previous post, nothing happened on September 16, save more vocal calls for Malaysia Day to be recognized as a public holiday or true national day. Anwar issued a couple of deadlines to Badawi, and the latter ignored him. Anwar repeatedly said he had the 31 Barisan MPs required to form the government, and asked for the public's patience while he makes this happen in a legal, lawful way. His supporters, of which I am one, believed that he would fulfill his promise, and appreciated the cautionary way he was approaching the volatile situation.
But I have to wonder about his strategy with the deadlines. He said that the Prime Minister "must" meet with him because he insisted he had the support of the majority of the MPs. Did he not have a Plan B? What if Badawi refused to meet him, which was exactly what happened? What then? The result is the fence-sitters see Anwar's words as empty talk, cakap kosong. And supporters like me, are starting to lose faith that he will actually form government, in light of recent developments.
Before the Raya break, Badawi declared that he would make an announcement on a transition plan by Oct 9th. Instead of handing over power in mid-2010, it was widely expected that he would do so in March 2009, the new date for the UMNO presidential elections previously scheduled for December this year. At the press conference some hours ago, he did not disappoint.
A couple of things he said stood out, to me.
"The party BN still leads, BN is still the party that forms the government..."
Translation: Take that, Anwar. Let's see you and Pakatan Rakyat try to form a government now. People will kasi can to Najib in the early days, just like they did to me. Those 31 MPs you may or may not have will probably rethink their decision to jump ship now.
"I know I would not be around until the year 2020. If I am still around, I would be 80 years old, and nobody would want an 80-year-old man hanging around."
Translation: Shut up, Dr M.
In the 5 months that Badawi has left, he has promised to reform the police and judiciary. Analysts agree he needs to grab this chance to leave his mark on Malaysia. I believe he can do that if he abolishes the ISA. But will he have the guts to do so? His track record shows that whatever reforms we've had came about from his inaction, rather than his actions (he didn't use the full corrupt election tactics of Dr M's era; he didn't muzzle the newspapers as Dr M did).
Then we have the prospect of a Najib Tun Razak administration. The future for reform is bleak if this man takes over. And it really does not seem as if there's anyone to stop him. Muhyiddin? I don't think he's anywhere near as popular nor does he have a support base as solid as Najib's. Tengku Razaleigh? He's of another generation.
So our next PM will be either Najib or Anwar. And if Najib is still in power when this global recession lifts, Anwar's chances are just about gone.
But I have to wonder about his strategy with the deadlines. He said that the Prime Minister "must" meet with him because he insisted he had the support of the majority of the MPs. Did he not have a Plan B? What if Badawi refused to meet him, which was exactly what happened? What then? The result is the fence-sitters see Anwar's words as empty talk, cakap kosong. And supporters like me, are starting to lose faith that he will actually form government, in light of recent developments.
Before the Raya break, Badawi declared that he would make an announcement on a transition plan by Oct 9th. Instead of handing over power in mid-2010, it was widely expected that he would do so in March 2009, the new date for the UMNO presidential elections previously scheduled for December this year. At the press conference some hours ago, he did not disappoint.
A couple of things he said stood out, to me.
"The party BN still leads, BN is still the party that forms the government..."
Translation: Take that, Anwar. Let's see you and Pakatan Rakyat try to form a government now. People will kasi can to Najib in the early days, just like they did to me. Those 31 MPs you may or may not have will probably rethink their decision to jump ship now.
"I know I would not be around until the year 2020. If I am still around, I would be 80 years old, and nobody would want an 80-year-old man hanging around."
Translation: Shut up, Dr M.
In the 5 months that Badawi has left, he has promised to reform the police and judiciary. Analysts agree he needs to grab this chance to leave his mark on Malaysia. I believe he can do that if he abolishes the ISA. But will he have the guts to do so? His track record shows that whatever reforms we've had came about from his inaction, rather than his actions (he didn't use the full corrupt election tactics of Dr M's era; he didn't muzzle the newspapers as Dr M did).
Then we have the prospect of a Najib Tun Razak administration. The future for reform is bleak if this man takes over. And it really does not seem as if there's anyone to stop him. Muhyiddin? I don't think he's anywhere near as popular nor does he have a support base as solid as Najib's. Tengku Razaleigh? He's of another generation.
So our next PM will be either Najib or Anwar. And if Najib is still in power when this global recession lifts, Anwar's chances are just about gone.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Malaysia Day : A New Birth?
Happy Birthday, Malaysia (not Malaya). Sorry, I don't even know how old you are.
Here we are on September 16th (Malaysia time), the promised date. Last night, Anwar declared to a 20,000-strong crowd that he "has the numbers" to take over the government. Exactly how that starts to happen is supposed to be revealed today.
In fact, it MUST be revealed, or Anwar's words will turn into a big lie. That's what BN is counting on. But apparently, they're worried enough that they're trying to pull Kedah Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen over to the dark side. So the tug-of-war has begun.
There are high expectations (or dread, depending on which camp you're in) for today. Both the Star Online and Malaysiakini have a stripped-down version of their websites due to high traffic. I just really hope Anwar and friends don't let us down.
Other developments in the past 24 hours:
- The Inspector General of Police released a statement on the ISA arrests, saying they were necessary to prevent racial and religious tensions from spiraling out of control. The statement was totally unconvincing, and instead of reassuring the public, the warning tone seemed to want to sow seeds of fear in people, reminding us yet again of May 13 and Kampung Medan.
- Two "four-eyed" meetings between Badawi and his deputy, Najib, over the past 3 days. Any wonder why the country is going down the tubes when two very flawed leaders listen to no one but themselves? Where are these people's advisers? Those people on the "fourth floor" infamously have their own agenda and seem more like they menghasut the PM instead of giving him sound advice.
- Zaid Ibrahim, the Law Minister, quit. Badawi rejected his resignation, instead telling him to take a 2-week vacation because he might be "tired". Yup, tired of working for an inept boss. Tired of trying to affect reforms in a system resistant to change.
Anwar said he tried to change the system from within too, and the system made him pay. Now, he's trying to change it from without and has made us big promises he'd better fulfill. Let's wait and see if we have something to celebrate.
Here we are on September 16th (Malaysia time), the promised date. Last night, Anwar declared to a 20,000-strong crowd that he "has the numbers" to take over the government. Exactly how that starts to happen is supposed to be revealed today.
In fact, it MUST be revealed, or Anwar's words will turn into a big lie. That's what BN is counting on. But apparently, they're worried enough that they're trying to pull Kedah Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen over to the dark side. So the tug-of-war has begun.
There are high expectations (or dread, depending on which camp you're in) for today. Both the Star Online and Malaysiakini have a stripped-down version of their websites due to high traffic. I just really hope Anwar and friends don't let us down.
Other developments in the past 24 hours:
- The Inspector General of Police released a statement on the ISA arrests, saying they were necessary to prevent racial and religious tensions from spiraling out of control. The statement was totally unconvincing, and instead of reassuring the public, the warning tone seemed to want to sow seeds of fear in people, reminding us yet again of May 13 and Kampung Medan.
- Two "four-eyed" meetings between Badawi and his deputy, Najib, over the past 3 days. Any wonder why the country is going down the tubes when two very flawed leaders listen to no one but themselves? Where are these people's advisers? Those people on the "fourth floor" infamously have their own agenda and seem more like they menghasut the PM instead of giving him sound advice.
- Zaid Ibrahim, the Law Minister, quit. Badawi rejected his resignation, instead telling him to take a 2-week vacation because he might be "tired". Yup, tired of working for an inept boss. Tired of trying to affect reforms in a system resistant to change.
Anwar said he tried to change the system from within too, and the system made him pay. Now, he's trying to change it from without and has made us big promises he'd better fulfill. Let's wait and see if we have something to celebrate.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Did using the ISA backfire?
Historically, when the Malaysian government feels its hold on power is severely threatened, it reacts desperately; by secretly pitting the races against each other. In 1969, Tun Razak's faction stirred up racial sentiment in order to erode Tuanku Abdul Rahman's power. The result: a bloody racial confrontation and the blackest mark in our nation's history.
In 1987, the Malay-versus-Chinese sentiment was allowed to boil over resulting in 3 newspapers being shut down and 119 people detained under ISA. This was the infamous Operasi Lalang. (See Malaysiakini's insightful article where former detainees were interviewed. As an aside, I wish Anwar Ibrahim would apologize for his role during that time. Not everything he's done in his political lifetime is admirable).
Now in 2008, in the aftermath of the worst election result in Barisan Nasional's history, their grip on power ever-more tenuous, history threatens to repeat itself. They found an unwitting spark in Ahmad Ismail and played the Malay-vs-Chinese, Chinese-vs-Islam, most-hated-anti-govt-blogger-vs-Islam cards. How did Malaysians react this time? By coming together peacefully, regardless of race, to protest the ISA. Here is Anil Netto's heart-warming piece on the gathering in Penang last night.
It appears that using the ISA this time may have backfired on the government. More people from within the administration are openly protesting its use: Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim, Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam, even Information Minister Shabery Cheek.
Then again, we have people have like Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, minister in the Prime Minister's department, who wanted more people arrested and asked people to focus on the advantages of having the ISA (NST Online).
We can't jail people for being dumb, and we can't jail people for being racists. Malay ultra-nationalists, these pro-Ketuanan-Melayu types will probably always exist, just like the white supremacists and the KKK do in the States.
What we can do is make it known loud and clear that Malaysians are done with politicians who play the race and religion cards to cling to power. To the people holding candlelight vigils in protest of the ISA, I am with you in spirit.
In 1987, the Malay-versus-Chinese sentiment was allowed to boil over resulting in 3 newspapers being shut down and 119 people detained under ISA. This was the infamous Operasi Lalang. (See Malaysiakini's insightful article where former detainees were interviewed. As an aside, I wish Anwar Ibrahim would apologize for his role during that time. Not everything he's done in his political lifetime is admirable).
Now in 2008, in the aftermath of the worst election result in Barisan Nasional's history, their grip on power ever-more tenuous, history threatens to repeat itself. They found an unwitting spark in Ahmad Ismail and played the Malay-vs-Chinese, Chinese-vs-Islam, most-hated-anti-govt-blogger-vs-Islam cards. How did Malaysians react this time? By coming together peacefully, regardless of race, to protest the ISA. Here is Anil Netto's heart-warming piece on the gathering in Penang last night.
It appears that using the ISA this time may have backfired on the government. More people from within the administration are openly protesting its use: Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim, Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam, even Information Minister Shabery Cheek.
Then again, we have people have like Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, minister in the Prime Minister's department, who wanted more people arrested and asked people to focus on the advantages of having the ISA (NST Online).
We can't jail people for being dumb, and we can't jail people for being racists. Malay ultra-nationalists, these pro-Ketuanan-Melayu types will probably always exist, just like the white supremacists and the KKK do in the States.
What we can do is make it known loud and clear that Malaysians are done with politicians who play the race and religion cards to cling to power. To the people holding candlelight vigils in protest of the ISA, I am with you in spirit.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
And the Loser of the Day is...
...our Home (Internal Security) Minister, Syed Hamid Albar! (cue canned applause)
He was left to defend the extremely short-sighted moves of detaining the 3 under ISA. From his interviews in theStarOnline and Malaysiakini, it appears that:
1) The police were the ones who decided to arrest the 3. Syed Hamid was merely informed of it. He didn't disagree with it, that's for sure, quote, "The whole thing was started by her (journalist Tan Hoon Cheng)". How are we to believe that the police acted independently when their actions correspond with the biases of the government?
2) ISA was used to detain Tan because they did not think that a journalist would voluntarily go to the police station for questioning. Obviously, the police have trust issues. They don't trust the people, and the people don't trust them. The feeling is mutual.
3) The police's case is weak, perhaps not against Raja Petra, but definitely against Teresa Kok. Special Branch accused her of stirring up racial and religious conflict (again, mind-boggling that Ahmad Ismail is 'exempt' from this), yet the whole masjid issue was not her doing. Khir Toyo is the culprit here, blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
4) Syed Hamid equated Tan's ISA detention with Ahmad Ismail's 3-year suspension, as if one was equal to the other. This is when I have to wonder about goverment mouthpieces. Do they actually believe what they say? Do they practice enough times in front of the mirror to convince themselves first of what they are about to say to the public? Because his logic is just bull.
Referring to point 1), it actually does seem possible that the police acted independently in arresting Tan. If the decision had gone through Badawi, would he nor his advisors not anticipated the fallout? Gerakan and MCA would leave, and Barisan Nasional would be no more. The swiftness of the reversal, or Tan's release, hints that the government quickly tried to stem the damage. Perhaps that's why Tan never made it to Bukit Aman; her police escort got her as far as Ipoh, where she was released at 2:30pm today.
This whole mess is just shameful. Shame on the police, on Syed Hamid, and on Badawi's government.
He was left to defend the extremely short-sighted moves of detaining the 3 under ISA. From his interviews in theStarOnline and Malaysiakini, it appears that:
1) The police were the ones who decided to arrest the 3. Syed Hamid was merely informed of it. He didn't disagree with it, that's for sure, quote, "The whole thing was started by her (journalist Tan Hoon Cheng)". How are we to believe that the police acted independently when their actions correspond with the biases of the government?
2) ISA was used to detain Tan because they did not think that a journalist would voluntarily go to the police station for questioning. Obviously, the police have trust issues. They don't trust the people, and the people don't trust them. The feeling is mutual.
3) The police's case is weak, perhaps not against Raja Petra, but definitely against Teresa Kok. Special Branch accused her of stirring up racial and religious conflict (again, mind-boggling that Ahmad Ismail is 'exempt' from this), yet the whole masjid issue was not her doing. Khir Toyo is the culprit here, blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
4) Syed Hamid equated Tan's ISA detention with Ahmad Ismail's 3-year suspension, as if one was equal to the other. This is when I have to wonder about goverment mouthpieces. Do they actually believe what they say? Do they practice enough times in front of the mirror to convince themselves first of what they are about to say to the public? Because his logic is just bull.
Referring to point 1), it actually does seem possible that the police acted independently in arresting Tan. If the decision had gone through Badawi, would he nor his advisors not anticipated the fallout? Gerakan and MCA would leave, and Barisan Nasional would be no more. The swiftness of the reversal, or Tan's release, hints that the government quickly tried to stem the damage. Perhaps that's why Tan never made it to Bukit Aman; her police escort got her as far as Ipoh, where she was released at 2:30pm today.
This whole mess is just shameful. Shame on the police, on Syed Hamid, and on Badawi's government.
Journalist in ISA for her own safety?
As condemnation poured in and demands for her released continued from the NUJ, MCA and MIC, the government released Sin Chew journalist Tan at 4pm today and offered the dubious excuse that she had been jailed for her own good.
From Malaysiakini:
Speaking from Johor Baru this morning, Syed Hamid justified Tan's detention under the ISA with a rare reason that it was as part of the government's preventive measure ‘to ensure her safety'.
The minister claimed police intelligence have indicated that the journalist's life came under threat after she reported an Umno division leader's allegedly racist remarks.
Why then, did the police have to transfer her from Penang to Bukit Aman? Was she not safe enough in the care of the Penang police? Or was it bureaucracy? It was a "KL case" and therefore had to be processed in KL? Why not just detain her for questioning? Instead of raising the country's ire by charging her under ISA?
Is this a matter of the government realizing its stupidity and letting the journalist go before all these candlelight vigils could take place? Did they get scared when the NUJ said they would use their international connections to highlight this injustice?
As we wait to hear from Tan herself, one can only assume the worst of a government which has lost so much credibility in the eyes of its people.
From Malaysiakini:
Speaking from Johor Baru this morning, Syed Hamid justified Tan's detention under the ISA with a rare reason that it was as part of the government's preventive measure ‘to ensure her safety'.
The minister claimed police intelligence have indicated that the journalist's life came under threat after she reported an Umno division leader's allegedly racist remarks.
Why then, did the police have to transfer her from Penang to Bukit Aman? Was she not safe enough in the care of the Penang police? Or was it bureaucracy? It was a "KL case" and therefore had to be processed in KL? Why not just detain her for questioning? Instead of raising the country's ire by charging her under ISA?
Is this a matter of the government realizing its stupidity and letting the journalist go before all these candlelight vigils could take place? Did they get scared when the NUJ said they would use their international connections to highlight this injustice?
As we wait to hear from Tan herself, one can only assume the worst of a government which has lost so much credibility in the eyes of its people.
Friday, September 12, 2008
RPK, Love Him or Hate Him
Waiting to see who will be arrested under ISA today. Since the show-cause letters were sent to 3 news publications, namely The Sun, Sin Chew Daily and Suara Keadilan, expect the editors of or contributors to these publications to be stripped of their freedom next.
Raja Petra was savvy enough to know this was coming. Some of his articles supposedly belittled Islam, and various Islamic groups had filed complaints against him. Most times I agree with his views, and I admire his outspokenness, his tenacity, and his courage.
But one recent article just rubbed me the wrong way. RPK insinuated that the character flaw in Ahmad Ismail was because of his Mamak, or Indian Muslim origins, making the latter prone to Mad Cow Disease. The satirical piece stunk of racism and the comments that followed were even more gleefully derogatory. My family name is most definitely of Mamak origin, I lived in Penang for 20 years, and think Mamak food is a drop of heaven on earth. I don't see what the hell is wrong about being Mamak - is it just the Malays discriminating on the basis of skin color?
The one that probably turned the average Muslim Malay against him was The Tudung Debate. Comments following the piece and on other blogs show that Malays are still very much against questioning Islamic laws and traditions as they know it. They say, if you're not a learned Islamic scholar, you have no business questioning Islam. Basically, you are to follow blindly what you were taught in kelas agama during primary school. Asking questions erodes one's faith. Any wonder then, why Islamic civilization is at such a low level compared to other peoples of the world? Perhaps Islamic terrorism wouldn't even be a phrase if more Muslims had questioned their extremist ulamas. God gave us each a brain so we can think and ponder the rights and wrongs, truths and consequences, to advance ourselves and our societies. But no, Malays are stubborn like that, choosing to obsess over the same old nitpicky issues. As if there is any society where all women wear tudung that is held in high regard and esteem in the world.
Still, our society needs people like Raja Petra. He makes us reflect on ourselves, makes us think of how we can make our society and our country better. His website encourages debate, and while you'll always have people who degenerate into hate-speech and name-calling, you'll also have those who engage in intelligent debate and others who become more open-minded as a result of healthy discussions.
For the sake of our country, he needs to be free.
Raja Petra was savvy enough to know this was coming. Some of his articles supposedly belittled Islam, and various Islamic groups had filed complaints against him. Most times I agree with his views, and I admire his outspokenness, his tenacity, and his courage.
But one recent article just rubbed me the wrong way. RPK insinuated that the character flaw in Ahmad Ismail was because of his Mamak, or Indian Muslim origins, making the latter prone to Mad Cow Disease. The satirical piece stunk of racism and the comments that followed were even more gleefully derogatory. My family name is most definitely of Mamak origin, I lived in Penang for 20 years, and think Mamak food is a drop of heaven on earth. I don't see what the hell is wrong about being Mamak - is it just the Malays discriminating on the basis of skin color?
The one that probably turned the average Muslim Malay against him was The Tudung Debate. Comments following the piece and on other blogs show that Malays are still very much against questioning Islamic laws and traditions as they know it. They say, if you're not a learned Islamic scholar, you have no business questioning Islam. Basically, you are to follow blindly what you were taught in kelas agama during primary school. Asking questions erodes one's faith. Any wonder then, why Islamic civilization is at such a low level compared to other peoples of the world? Perhaps Islamic terrorism wouldn't even be a phrase if more Muslims had questioned their extremist ulamas. God gave us each a brain so we can think and ponder the rights and wrongs, truths and consequences, to advance ourselves and our societies. But no, Malays are stubborn like that, choosing to obsess over the same old nitpicky issues. As if there is any society where all women wear tudung that is held in high regard and esteem in the world.
Still, our society needs people like Raja Petra. He makes us reflect on ourselves, makes us think of how we can make our society and our country better. His website encourages debate, and while you'll always have people who degenerate into hate-speech and name-calling, you'll also have those who engage in intelligent debate and others who become more open-minded as a result of healthy discussions.
For the sake of our country, he needs to be free.
ISA: The Weapon of the Weak
Friday, Sept 12th
1:10pm : Raja Petra arrested under ISA, less than a day after access to his Malaysia-Today site was restored by the government. They found a more effective way to shut the guy up.
8:40pm : Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng, who broke the story on Ahmad Ismail, was arrested under ISA. Apparently the government followed Azhar Ibrahim's "advice" to "shoot the journalist", just not literally.
11:20pm : DAP's Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh, assemblywoman for Kinrara, arrested under ISA. This is the lady who won her seat by the biggest margin - 37,000 votes - in the March 8th elections. She's also allegedly wanted the mosques in her area to "tone down" the azan recently, a charge she denies.
Will Ahmad Ismail be next? So the government can say they are being "fair"? Ahmad Ismail is the real cancer, promising to visit UMNO branches nationwide to spread his cause.
I think perhaps Lim Guan Eng should go into hiding. Those 5 PKR reps away in Taiwan are probably the safest for the moment.
So how boneheaded was this latest move by the government? The most "loyal" component in the BN, the MCA, was swift in its condemnation.
From Malaysiakini:
Meanwhile in an immediate reaction, MCA Youth legal bureau Gan Ping Sieu also condemned the use of ISA against Tan.
"The journalist concerned should be called for questioning and not be arrested," he said.
He criticised the government for its double standards, adding that the arrest was a setback for democracy.
He added that the MCA Youth legal bureau was prepared to set up a team of lawyers to provide legal assistance to Tan.
Now, we know the Youth wings of a party are always more outspoken than the "Senior" wings, but what will the Ong brothers and Ong Tee Keat (deputy minister, and contender for the MCA president post) say now? Interestingly, a visit to Ong Tee Keat's website reveals that 90% of the visitors polled say MCA should leave BN (266 for; 30 against). My, my, my.
Can that really be far behind now? Gerakan's leaving. MCA better jump off the sinking ship as well.
There is no better evidence of how weak Badawi's government is when it resorts to the most iron-fisted, unjust tool that it has. I await the disintegration of the once-mighty Barisan Nasional.
1:10pm : Raja Petra arrested under ISA, less than a day after access to his Malaysia-Today site was restored by the government. They found a more effective way to shut the guy up.
8:40pm : Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng, who broke the story on Ahmad Ismail, was arrested under ISA. Apparently the government followed Azhar Ibrahim's "advice" to "shoot the journalist", just not literally.
11:20pm : DAP's Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh, assemblywoman for Kinrara, arrested under ISA. This is the lady who won her seat by the biggest margin - 37,000 votes - in the March 8th elections. She's also allegedly wanted the mosques in her area to "tone down" the azan recently, a charge she denies.
Will Ahmad Ismail be next? So the government can say they are being "fair"? Ahmad Ismail is the real cancer, promising to visit UMNO branches nationwide to spread his cause.
I think perhaps Lim Guan Eng should go into hiding. Those 5 PKR reps away in Taiwan are probably the safest for the moment.
So how boneheaded was this latest move by the government? The most "loyal" component in the BN, the MCA, was swift in its condemnation.
From Malaysiakini:
Meanwhile in an immediate reaction, MCA Youth legal bureau Gan Ping Sieu also condemned the use of ISA against Tan.
"The journalist concerned should be called for questioning and not be arrested," he said.
He criticised the government for its double standards, adding that the arrest was a setback for democracy.
He added that the MCA Youth legal bureau was prepared to set up a team of lawyers to provide legal assistance to Tan.
Now, we know the Youth wings of a party are always more outspoken than the "Senior" wings, but what will the Ong brothers and Ong Tee Keat (deputy minister, and contender for the MCA president post) say now? Interestingly, a visit to Ong Tee Keat's website reveals that 90% of the visitors polled say MCA should leave BN (266 for; 30 against). My, my, my.
Can that really be far behind now? Gerakan's leaving. MCA better jump off the sinking ship as well.
There is no better evidence of how weak Badawi's government is when it resorts to the most iron-fisted, unjust tool that it has. I await the disintegration of the once-mighty Barisan Nasional.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
And the Punishment for Being a Degenerate Racist is...
So Ahmad Ismail was called up to Putrajaya to explain himself, and thereafter, PM Badawi promised to take "stern action" against the man.
Wanita Gerakan wanted Ahmad Ismail jailed under ISA.
Charging him under the Sedition Act has been bandied about by various groups.
Ultimately, I was persuaded that if I am against the use of neither one on ordinary citizens, then I must be against the use of them on blatant racists as well.
Did Badawi and his UMNO Supreme Council have the answer?
Nope. Yet again, disappoint they did.
They took away Ahmad Ismail's position, barred him from holding any post within UMNO for three years and took away his right to vote for party leaders. Whoop-dee-doo.
If there had been some kind of riot, it would have been his fault. Not the journalists who reported what he'd said, not Dr Koh or any miffed Chinese leader as he'd claimed, but Ahmad Ismail's alone. The responsibility would have been all his, and guess what, he would've been defiant and arrogant to the last.
I suppose what pisses me off about this man is not only is he a blatant racist, but that I was "associated" with him in a previous life. I had the "priviledge" to be around him during all those UMNO activities I participated in during my schooldays. I'm sure I'd had to tunduk salam to him dozens of times. I'm disgusted to think that I actually had to show respect to this man!!!
His type of Ketua UMNO is exactly what made my disdain for the party grow. After SPM, I refused to be a member, even though my family had been living the UMNO life for at least 5 years by that time. What I mean by the UMNO life is spending weekends playing the organ in talent shows, joining in Hari Keluarga races and games at Youth Park, entering essay competitions, and the like. All good community-building stuff. But like I've said in my earlier posts, my father refused to play the money politics game, which meant he could only rise so far up the ranks. That's probably why we're not living in a penthouse on Gurney Drive right now, like some of those other Ketua Bahagians.
So, what punishment is appropriate?
1. Throw him out of the party. UMNO has no b***s to do this. Sad.
2. Take away his Datukship. The title Datuk is supposed to be bestowed on people who deserve respect in our society, not the ones who are unable to restrain themselves and subsequently incite racial tensions.
3. Sentence him to community service... in a Chinese, or at least non-Malay facility. When I was a Ranger (Girl Scout), our troop went to a nursing home where we were supposed to help the residents and staff. I ended up feeding porridge to a bedridden Chinese man who was probably approaching 100. I'm sure they can find a janitorial position for our man. If not, I'd settle for him picking up trash along the highway.
Now what to do about his konco-konco (associates), most infamous of all being this Azhar Ibrahim, Penang UMNO secretary, who advocated "shooting" the journalist? Malaysiakini says that a police report has been filed against him for criminal intimidation, which could land one in jail for 7 years. He, and the fellow caught on tape ripping up Dr Koh's picture should be suspended as well, along with ALL the Ketua Bahagian UMNO Pulau Pinang who came out in support of Ahmad Ismail.
Badawi and Najib say racism is not what UMNO is about, but they do not prove it (well, actually, they CANnot). With Najib's history of kissing the keris, who really believes this guy, anyway? He says and does what's right for the audience of the moment (he never met this Saiful guy before... oh wait, he did). I feel that Malaysians in general, me included, want so hard to believe in Badawi's leadership. Time and again, we hope he will STAND UP AND BE A LEADER. Time and again, we are disappointed.
Wanita Gerakan wanted Ahmad Ismail jailed under ISA.
Charging him under the Sedition Act has been bandied about by various groups.
Ultimately, I was persuaded that if I am against the use of neither one on ordinary citizens, then I must be against the use of them on blatant racists as well.
Did Badawi and his UMNO Supreme Council have the answer?
Nope. Yet again, disappoint they did.
They took away Ahmad Ismail's position, barred him from holding any post within UMNO for three years and took away his right to vote for party leaders. Whoop-dee-doo.
If there had been some kind of riot, it would have been his fault. Not the journalists who reported what he'd said, not Dr Koh or any miffed Chinese leader as he'd claimed, but Ahmad Ismail's alone. The responsibility would have been all his, and guess what, he would've been defiant and arrogant to the last.
I suppose what pisses me off about this man is not only is he a blatant racist, but that I was "associated" with him in a previous life. I had the "priviledge" to be around him during all those UMNO activities I participated in during my schooldays. I'm sure I'd had to tunduk salam to him dozens of times. I'm disgusted to think that I actually had to show respect to this man!!!
His type of Ketua UMNO is exactly what made my disdain for the party grow. After SPM, I refused to be a member, even though my family had been living the UMNO life for at least 5 years by that time. What I mean by the UMNO life is spending weekends playing the organ in talent shows, joining in Hari Keluarga races and games at Youth Park, entering essay competitions, and the like. All good community-building stuff. But like I've said in my earlier posts, my father refused to play the money politics game, which meant he could only rise so far up the ranks. That's probably why we're not living in a penthouse on Gurney Drive right now, like some of those other Ketua Bahagians.
So, what punishment is appropriate?
1. Throw him out of the party. UMNO has no b***s to do this. Sad.
2. Take away his Datukship. The title Datuk is supposed to be bestowed on people who deserve respect in our society, not the ones who are unable to restrain themselves and subsequently incite racial tensions.
3. Sentence him to community service... in a Chinese, or at least non-Malay facility. When I was a Ranger (Girl Scout), our troop went to a nursing home where we were supposed to help the residents and staff. I ended up feeding porridge to a bedridden Chinese man who was probably approaching 100. I'm sure they can find a janitorial position for our man. If not, I'd settle for him picking up trash along the highway.
Now what to do about his konco-konco (associates), most infamous of all being this Azhar Ibrahim, Penang UMNO secretary, who advocated "shooting" the journalist? Malaysiakini says that a police report has been filed against him for criminal intimidation, which could land one in jail for 7 years. He, and the fellow caught on tape ripping up Dr Koh's picture should be suspended as well, along with ALL the Ketua Bahagian UMNO Pulau Pinang who came out in support of Ahmad Ismail.
Badawi and Najib say racism is not what UMNO is about, but they do not prove it (well, actually, they CANnot). With Najib's history of kissing the keris, who really believes this guy, anyway? He says and does what's right for the audience of the moment (he never met this Saiful guy before... oh wait, he did). I feel that Malaysians in general, me included, want so hard to believe in Badawi's leadership. Time and again, we hope he will STAND UP AND BE A LEADER. Time and again, we are disappointed.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Opening a Can of Worms
As if Ahmad Ismail's stance was not disturbing enough, more of his types are crawling out of the woodwork.
From Malaysiakini's report:
Penang Umno secretary Azhar Ibrahim has stood by his call for the Sin Chew reporter in question to “be shot” should a May 13-type racial riot breaks out. Contacted today, Azhar reiterated firmly that, “the journalist deserved to be shot if her article causes another May 13".
This kind of racial hostility makes me shudder. It is truly scary. If I were the journalist in question, I'd be hiring a lawyer and filing a police report against Azhar's threatening statements right now. Heck, I'd even consider uprooting my family to an undisclosed location and hiring bodyguards. And while I'm at the police station filing that report, I'd file one for sedition too:
3(e) to promote feelings of ill will or hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia
How do you deal with people like this? Lock them up in jail and throw away the key? Will they be all "rehabilitated" when they see the light of day years later? Everyone has discriminatory tendencies. We assign groups of people certain traits because its easier and more economical for our brains to process vast amounts of information by classification. However, when we attach negative emotions of aggression and hostility towards people based on race, then that is racism. And that is wrong.
What then is the "cure"? One would assume the more you interact with people of different races, the more open-minded you will be. Ahmad Ismail and Azhar live in Chinese-majority Penang island, not in the Malay heartland. Clearly, exposure is not enough to cure small-mindedness.
I don't have the answer but the culprit is easy to see: the government's entrenched affirmative action policies. All these years of protecting the Malays' "special rights" has bred a younger generation that does not know how to effectively get along with other races and an older generation that is paranoid and fearful of societal change.
Wouldn't it be the greatest irony if the affirmative action policy set in place after May 13, 1969 to reduce racial disparity was the root cause of another racial riot 40 years later? Nauzubillah, God forbid.
From Malaysiakini's report:
Penang Umno secretary Azhar Ibrahim has stood by his call for the Sin Chew reporter in question to “be shot” should a May 13-type racial riot breaks out. Contacted today, Azhar reiterated firmly that, “the journalist deserved to be shot if her article causes another May 13".
This kind of racial hostility makes me shudder. It is truly scary. If I were the journalist in question, I'd be hiring a lawyer and filing a police report against Azhar's threatening statements right now. Heck, I'd even consider uprooting my family to an undisclosed location and hiring bodyguards. And while I'm at the police station filing that report, I'd file one for sedition too:
3(e) to promote feelings of ill will or hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia
How do you deal with people like this? Lock them up in jail and throw away the key? Will they be all "rehabilitated" when they see the light of day years later? Everyone has discriminatory tendencies. We assign groups of people certain traits because its easier and more economical for our brains to process vast amounts of information by classification. However, when we attach negative emotions of aggression and hostility towards people based on race, then that is racism. And that is wrong.
What then is the "cure"? One would assume the more you interact with people of different races, the more open-minded you will be. Ahmad Ismail and Azhar live in Chinese-majority Penang island, not in the Malay heartland. Clearly, exposure is not enough to cure small-mindedness.
I don't have the answer but the culprit is easy to see: the government's entrenched affirmative action policies. All these years of protecting the Malays' "special rights" has bred a younger generation that does not know how to effectively get along with other races and an older generation that is paranoid and fearful of societal change.
Wouldn't it be the greatest irony if the affirmative action policy set in place after May 13, 1969 to reduce racial disparity was the root cause of another racial riot 40 years later? Nauzubillah, God forbid.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Racist Malays
On August 26th, Anwar Ibrahim won the Permatang Pauh by-election and became the Opposition Leader in Parliament.
During the course of the 3-week campaign, UMNO brought out dirty, disgusting tactics to try to bring Anwar down, but the most effective was the racial card: a vote for Anwar is a vote for the Chinese to take over and abolish Malay rights.
One man has since come under much controversy for what he said during a campaign rally. Ahmad Ismail, head of UMNO's Bukit Bendera division, and a household name during my teen years, said that "the Chinese are squatters living in this country" (Cina kaum "penumpang" di negara ini) -although I have yet to find the exact words he used besides "penumpang." He allegedly said, they should thus not expect to get rights equal to the Malays.
Update Sept 6 3:43pm: The Star has this report on what the Chinese journalists actually heard, quote, "Ahmad said 'Chinese were only immigrants (Orang Cina cuma tumpang di sini) and it was impossible for them to achieve equal rights among races'."
On August 28th, the controversy broke. Chinese DAP leaders demanded Ahmad retract his statement. Our most affable, ineffective Prime Minister Badawi responded that he would "advise" Ahmad not to 'repeat such statements' and that Ahmad had not meant what he'd said. The furore continued and on September 3rd, our scandal-tainted Deputy PM Najib issued an apology on behalf of Ahmad Ismail. All that while, the latter was "unreachable"; no journalist, friend, nor the mighty PM himself could get in touch with him. In the meantime, more Chinese leaders, this time including those from MCA and Gerakan, namely Dr Koh himself, were demanding a retraction from Ahmad. Police reports were filed for his seditious statements.
While the country assumed he was cowering under his bed in fear, Ahmad Ismail finally resurfaced a week later, saying that he had been in Thailand leading a sepak takraw team in a tournament. Can he really be that BLUR as to not know the controversy he had sparked in his own home country, not so many miles away? Does he not speak to his family, who must surely read newspaper headlines or watch the news on TV? This man has been in active politics for some 20 years... surely he is not as disconnected as that from the Malaysian political scene?
So when he finally opens his mouth and makes his first statement to the press, people (and no, I'm not including pro-ketuanan-Melayu folks, obviously) start to hate him even more. His defense is, he was speaking in the context of the Chinese being immigrants in Malaya back in the day, and since that was based in fact, there was no need for him to apologize. To make matters exponentially worse, the whole of UMNO Penang, which is really shit in my book these past months (please excuse the language; fasting begins in an hour... *wink*), comes out in full support of their Malay hero Ahmad Ismail. The sheer arrogance and insensitivity of these people are wholly sickening and depressing.
Do they not see that Malaysia would not be what it is today without the Chinese and the Indians? These claims that they are so proud of: Malaysia's economic growth, tallest twin towers, blah blah, would they have happened if our society had been solely Malay? Perhaps, but FACT is, they didn't. You can't cut out sections of our social fabric without having the entire structure fall apart. We are what we are - an amalgam of Indian, Malay, Chinese, Asli, Kadazan, and many many more. I for one, am bloody proud of my Indian, Malay, Chinese, dan lain-lain heritage.
Sadly, because of people like Ahmad Ismail and the pro-ketuanan-Melayu types, the Malaysian social fabric is not strong. Decades of affirmative action policies have successfully divided our society to the point of being Malay versus non-Malay (if there are Chinese vs Indian tensions, I'm not aware of it). Ketuanan-Melayu Malays are paranoid that their NON-God-given rights will be taken away: no more discounts on housing, easy passes to higher education (of which I was a beneficiary), high-yield savings accounts, and so on. They are afraid that the land that they own will be possessed by the Chinese. To which I say, it's your own stupid fault if you sell off your land and cry about who owns it later.
Many years ago, way before Merdeka, my family owned huge chunks of land in Penang. We were the elite Malays, even had a road named after us. Wealth does not equal wisdom, however, and the sons of the rich were too wrapped up in drinking, gambling, and women to care that money was going down the drain. I was at the wake of one of those foolish men, when he died penniless in a small kampung house. My great-grandfather had lived to be almost 100; I wonder if he'd spent many days rueing the stupidity of his youth.
In present day Penang, the squatter houses in Tanjung Tokong have been a sore point for the Malay community for years. Many were demolished in the 80's to make way for the sake of pembangunan. The government built tall apartment buildings to accommodate the displaced residents, with the pretext that it would be a better way of living. Some of those squatter houses still stand, wooden houses built haphazardly on concrete homes which would be called basements here in the States. Some of my parents' closest friends live here and I know how humble their living spaces are. They have lived on this footprint of land for years, in this relatively prosperous nation named after their race, and they are loathe to give it up for ownership of a small apartment in the sky.
I feel for them. They are some of the most kind-hearted people I've ever met. Generous, even in poverty. I also feel for my parents' maid, a wonderful Indian lady who had lived in a squatter home with her family for decades before it was demolished this past year. She is probably around 60, strong as an ox, works at least 3 different jobs, yet lives in poverty. How can anyone say that they deserve more than her?
Whatever reservations people have about Anwar's PKR, their agenda to put the poor ahead of Malay interests is the absolute right thing to do. Malaysians are at the turning point where more of us are starting to see that race divisions hurt us and stunt our growth. Racists no matter of what stripe have to grow up and break out of their protectionist shell. We are maturing as a society, and it is high time we come together to build a true Bangsa Malaysia.
During the course of the 3-week campaign, UMNO brought out dirty, disgusting tactics to try to bring Anwar down, but the most effective was the racial card: a vote for Anwar is a vote for the Chinese to take over and abolish Malay rights.
One man has since come under much controversy for what he said during a campaign rally. Ahmad Ismail, head of UMNO's Bukit Bendera division, and a household name during my teen years, said that "the Chinese are squatters living in this country" (Cina kaum "penumpang" di negara ini) -although I have yet to find the exact words he used besides "penumpang." He allegedly said, they should thus not expect to get rights equal to the Malays.
Update Sept 6 3:43pm: The Star has this report on what the Chinese journalists actually heard, quote, "Ahmad said 'Chinese were only immigrants (Orang Cina cuma tumpang di sini) and it was impossible for them to achieve equal rights among races'."
On August 28th, the controversy broke. Chinese DAP leaders demanded Ahmad retract his statement. Our most affable, ineffective Prime Minister Badawi responded that he would "advise" Ahmad not to 'repeat such statements' and that Ahmad had not meant what he'd said. The furore continued and on September 3rd, our scandal-tainted Deputy PM Najib issued an apology on behalf of Ahmad Ismail. All that while, the latter was "unreachable"; no journalist, friend, nor the mighty PM himself could get in touch with him. In the meantime, more Chinese leaders, this time including those from MCA and Gerakan, namely Dr Koh himself, were demanding a retraction from Ahmad. Police reports were filed for his seditious statements.
While the country assumed he was cowering under his bed in fear, Ahmad Ismail finally resurfaced a week later, saying that he had been in Thailand leading a sepak takraw team in a tournament. Can he really be that BLUR as to not know the controversy he had sparked in his own home country, not so many miles away? Does he not speak to his family, who must surely read newspaper headlines or watch the news on TV? This man has been in active politics for some 20 years... surely he is not as disconnected as that from the Malaysian political scene?
So when he finally opens his mouth and makes his first statement to the press, people (and no, I'm not including pro-ketuanan-Melayu folks, obviously) start to hate him even more. His defense is, he was speaking in the context of the Chinese being immigrants in Malaya back in the day, and since that was based in fact, there was no need for him to apologize. To make matters exponentially worse, the whole of UMNO Penang, which is really shit in my book these past months (please excuse the language; fasting begins in an hour... *wink*), comes out in full support of their Malay hero Ahmad Ismail. The sheer arrogance and insensitivity of these people are wholly sickening and depressing.
Do they not see that Malaysia would not be what it is today without the Chinese and the Indians? These claims that they are so proud of: Malaysia's economic growth, tallest twin towers, blah blah, would they have happened if our society had been solely Malay? Perhaps, but FACT is, they didn't. You can't cut out sections of our social fabric without having the entire structure fall apart. We are what we are - an amalgam of Indian, Malay, Chinese, Asli, Kadazan, and many many more. I for one, am bloody proud of my Indian, Malay, Chinese, dan lain-lain heritage.
Sadly, because of people like Ahmad Ismail and the pro-ketuanan-Melayu types, the Malaysian social fabric is not strong. Decades of affirmative action policies have successfully divided our society to the point of being Malay versus non-Malay (if there are Chinese vs Indian tensions, I'm not aware of it). Ketuanan-Melayu Malays are paranoid that their NON-God-given rights will be taken away: no more discounts on housing, easy passes to higher education (of which I was a beneficiary), high-yield savings accounts, and so on. They are afraid that the land that they own will be possessed by the Chinese. To which I say, it's your own stupid fault if you sell off your land and cry about who owns it later.
Many years ago, way before Merdeka, my family owned huge chunks of land in Penang. We were the elite Malays, even had a road named after us. Wealth does not equal wisdom, however, and the sons of the rich were too wrapped up in drinking, gambling, and women to care that money was going down the drain. I was at the wake of one of those foolish men, when he died penniless in a small kampung house. My great-grandfather had lived to be almost 100; I wonder if he'd spent many days rueing the stupidity of his youth.
In present day Penang, the squatter houses in Tanjung Tokong have been a sore point for the Malay community for years. Many were demolished in the 80's to make way for the sake of pembangunan. The government built tall apartment buildings to accommodate the displaced residents, with the pretext that it would be a better way of living. Some of those squatter houses still stand, wooden houses built haphazardly on concrete homes which would be called basements here in the States. Some of my parents' closest friends live here and I know how humble their living spaces are. They have lived on this footprint of land for years, in this relatively prosperous nation named after their race, and they are loathe to give it up for ownership of a small apartment in the sky.
I feel for them. They are some of the most kind-hearted people I've ever met. Generous, even in poverty. I also feel for my parents' maid, a wonderful Indian lady who had lived in a squatter home with her family for decades before it was demolished this past year. She is probably around 60, strong as an ox, works at least 3 different jobs, yet lives in poverty. How can anyone say that they deserve more than her?
Whatever reservations people have about Anwar's PKR, their agenda to put the poor ahead of Malay interests is the absolute right thing to do. Malaysians are at the turning point where more of us are starting to see that race divisions hurt us and stunt our growth. Racists no matter of what stripe have to grow up and break out of their protectionist shell. We are maturing as a society, and it is high time we come together to build a true Bangsa Malaysia.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Judicial Reform?
From the April 18th Star Online:
Government moves to strengthen judiciary
Well, well, well. I think Badawi is sick of all the voices demanding that he step down - from Dr Mahathir to Khir Toyo - that he's decided to give people something else to talk about. He's trying to show us that yes, he does have a spine, and he's the one with the power of the highest office in the land, dammit! The man has been derided and humiliated - most recently courtesy of Dr M of course, who unabashedly said he "regretted" choosing Badawi as his successor - and is now trying to take the giant step of bettering the country's institutions while shining the spotlight on Dr M's misdeeds of the past.
The Star's various news stories on this issue were generally sunny in nature: Tun Salleh Abbas the first out of his chair to shake Badawi's hand following the latter's speech; Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan's "delight" over the proposed Commission; Wan Azizah welcoming the overdue announcement. Malaysiakini's headline highlighted the fact that there was no apology given to the six sacked judges. Badawi's view was that the injustice did not take place during his leadership and that the country now needed to look forward instead of backward, which meant, sorry, but no "sorry" from me. Susan Loone took the cynical view, practically equating the compensation Badawi proposed to give the six with bribery. I admit, I was initally optimistic reading the Star's reports, but caution is the best way forward. After all, we've heard sweet nothings out of Badawi's mouth before.
Government moves to strengthen judiciary
KUALA LUMPUR: A Judicial Appointments Commission to help the Prime Minister choose judges is to be set up as part of reforms announced last night by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to renew the people’s trust in the judiciary.
Well, well, well. I think Badawi is sick of all the voices demanding that he step down - from Dr Mahathir to Khir Toyo - that he's decided to give people something else to talk about. He's trying to show us that yes, he does have a spine, and he's the one with the power of the highest office in the land, dammit! The man has been derided and humiliated - most recently courtesy of Dr M of course, who unabashedly said he "regretted" choosing Badawi as his successor - and is now trying to take the giant step of bettering the country's institutions while shining the spotlight on Dr M's misdeeds of the past.
The Star's various news stories on this issue were generally sunny in nature: Tun Salleh Abbas the first out of his chair to shake Badawi's hand following the latter's speech; Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan's "delight" over the proposed Commission; Wan Azizah welcoming the overdue announcement. Malaysiakini's headline highlighted the fact that there was no apology given to the six sacked judges. Badawi's view was that the injustice did not take place during his leadership and that the country now needed to look forward instead of backward, which meant, sorry, but no "sorry" from me. Susan Loone took the cynical view, practically equating the compensation Badawi proposed to give the six with bribery. I admit, I was initally optimistic reading the Star's reports, but caution is the best way forward. After all, we've heard sweet nothings out of Badawi's mouth before.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Spreading Reformasi
First, the people revolted against the BN, showing that reformasi was alive and well.
Then the Perlis, Perak and Terengganu royal houses followed suit, refusing to cave in to demands from any political party in choosing their respective Menteris Besar. Sultan Mizan of Terengganu, aka the Agong, showed Badawi that being Prime Minister no longer means being the most powerful man in the land.
Is the media next? Malaysiakini reported on March 29th, the observations of 3 media watchdogs, including:
Check out the latest headlines (2 non-political stories not displayed):
GRACE UNDER FIRE: A doctor turned accidental politician has survived the political roller coaster of the past 10 years and now promises some vitamins to improve the nation’s health.
What?!! This would have been blasphemy just last week! Perhaps this MCA-owned publication, like the MCA itself, has finally woken up and smelled the coffee.
And if the formerly-delusional Samy Vellu can change his tune, does that mean there's hope for the likes of the UMNO-owned daily below?
Utusan Malaysia had allotted about 83 percent of its pages for pro-BN reports, and only 1.89 percent for pro-Opposition reports. -Malaysiakini
Then the Perlis, Perak and Terengganu royal houses followed suit, refusing to cave in to demands from any political party in choosing their respective Menteris Besar. Sultan Mizan of Terengganu, aka the Agong, showed Badawi that being Prime Minister no longer means being the most powerful man in the land.
Is the media next? Malaysiakini reported on March 29th, the observations of 3 media watchdogs, including:
...The Star was the most partial among English newspapers in terms of elections reporting in favour of Barisan Nasional (BN) with 63.12 percent its election reports being ‘pro-BN’.
The daily was also found to have had the smallest proportion (5.5 percent) of pro-Opposition reports, while 31.3 percent of its stories were ‘neutral’.
Talk about a slap in the face! Once upon a time in 1987, the Star had enough guts to go against the BN and found itself banned from publishing. Having suffered through the aftermath of its embarrassingly out-of-touch election season coverage, the Star Online unveiled a new look yesterday, accompanied by more neutral reporting (gasp!) of non-BN parties.Check out the latest headlines (2 non-political stories not displayed):
- Penang gets its shadow Exco
- [Taiping] MIC branch dissolved; members become PAS supporters
- [Perak] Village chief polls next month
- Gerakan deputy sec-gen quits all posts
- Release Hindraf 5, says Samy... yes, you read that right!
- Ahmad Said sworn in as Terengganu MB
- Experiment on reforms, opposition-led states urged
- Focus on service to the people, DAP founder says
- Three houses gutted, MB [Kelantan]'s home saved
GRACE UNDER FIRE: A doctor turned accidental politician has survived the political roller coaster of the past 10 years and now promises some vitamins to improve the nation’s health.
What?!! This would have been blasphemy just last week! Perhaps this MCA-owned publication, like the MCA itself, has finally woken up and smelled the coffee.
And if the formerly-delusional Samy Vellu can change his tune, does that mean there's hope for the likes of the UMNO-owned daily below?
Utusan Malaysia had allotted about 83 percent of its pages for pro-BN reports, and only 1.89 percent for pro-Opposition reports. -Malaysiakini
Thursday, March 27, 2008
My Wish List for Penang (updated April 18th)
I'll update this post as I think of more to add.
More parks, please
Sorry, Patrick Badawi, take your PGCC plans and shove it! I hope the state gets a smart, sustainable plan for the interconnecting parks instead. With 1.5 million vehicles on the state's roads (and 1.06 cars per person!), a green lung is much needed. Perhaps they could take some pointers from New York's Central Park.
Improve public transport
This is such an old problem. I wish the monorail, modeled after Singapore's MRT, will become a reality. In the meantime, the state should take over the entire public bus system. We simply cannot tolerate an atmosphere where bus drivers are being threatened with parangs to their necks! Look at Boston's MBTA system: buses and trains generally run on-time, their schedules are online, and users can plan their trips point-to-point with estimated travel times to their destinations. I would settle for Penang buses being on time.
As of April 18th, the estimated completion date of the Second Link to the mainland is September 2011, at a cost of RM4+ billion. Is it too late to scrap this project? We really don't need more cars on the island, but we do need to ease congestion on the Penang Bridge. The ferry operators have long complained about running a loss-making public service, when they should be looking into new technology and some fresh thinking. Perhaps water transport can be corporatised? I find it ironic that we can take a high-speed ferry to Langkawi and Medan but not to Butterworth.
Review high-rise building permits
Now that PGCC and its 35 towers are all but history, the government needs to be much more selective in allowing developers to build one skyscraper after another. Ivory Properties is planning to build over 1000 new high-rises in the next 2 years. Obviously, developers think there is much potential in creating housing catering to the upmarket clientele. But housing for the middle-income family is already so expensive, higher than in KL, because we only have so much land. We need quality, affordable housing, where profit margins aren't quite as large for the developers. Yet, even if there are 1000 new condominiums and they cannot be filled by existing Penangites, do we really want people migrating into Penang, clogging the island with more cars, when public transport is so woefully lacking? And bear in mind, this plan is only by one developer. There will be others, some who will end up bankrupt, leaving cleared plots and half-raised structures in their wake. We already have enough of those.
More tourist attractions?
Apparently the state government is miffed that Penang was not on the list of the 3 must-see locations during Visit Malaysia Year 2007. They're considering building an attraction like a zoo or aquarium to pull in the tourists. Who needs a zoo when there's already one in Taiping and why build an aquarium when there's one in Langkawi? Must we have an attraction featuring trapped animals? Can we be sure they won't end up neglected like the ones in the KL Zoo? Besides, we already have the Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang. What we really need for tourism is to clean up the beaches and waters. Perhaps impose entrance fees, say $5 per car, to enter "state beaches". This is standard practice in the US.
Build something unique, educational and family-oriented
Many families spend their time week after week in shopping malls, which is a tragic waste of time and money. KL has the PetroSains Discovery Center. Penang could have a discovery center or children's museum catering to those aged 3-12. Boston has a fantastic one while the one in Ann Arbor shows that a smaller space and smaller budget can still translate into a good museum. A successful children's museum would automatically become an attractive tourist attraction.
Improve the culture factor
We have museums, art galleries, heritage houses and a library but how many Penangites actually visit all these places? We need to up the cool factor. Museums and galleries need to improve on their outreach programs. Coordinate with schools and encourage them to make regular field trips to these spots. The state education department could even direct schools to integrate state history into the curriculum, requiring visits to any 2 museums per school year.
More parks, please
Sorry, Patrick Badawi, take your PGCC plans and shove it! I hope the state gets a smart, sustainable plan for the interconnecting parks instead. With 1.5 million vehicles on the state's roads (and 1.06 cars per person!), a green lung is much needed. Perhaps they could take some pointers from New York's Central Park.
Improve public transport
This is such an old problem. I wish the monorail, modeled after Singapore's MRT, will become a reality. In the meantime, the state should take over the entire public bus system. We simply cannot tolerate an atmosphere where bus drivers are being threatened with parangs to their necks! Look at Boston's MBTA system: buses and trains generally run on-time, their schedules are online, and users can plan their trips point-to-point with estimated travel times to their destinations. I would settle for Penang buses being on time.
As of April 18th, the estimated completion date of the Second Link to the mainland is September 2011, at a cost of RM4+ billion. Is it too late to scrap this project? We really don't need more cars on the island, but we do need to ease congestion on the Penang Bridge. The ferry operators have long complained about running a loss-making public service, when they should be looking into new technology and some fresh thinking. Perhaps water transport can be corporatised? I find it ironic that we can take a high-speed ferry to Langkawi and Medan but not to Butterworth.
Review high-rise building permits
Now that PGCC and its 35 towers are all but history, the government needs to be much more selective in allowing developers to build one skyscraper after another. Ivory Properties is planning to build over 1000 new high-rises in the next 2 years. Obviously, developers think there is much potential in creating housing catering to the upmarket clientele. But housing for the middle-income family is already so expensive, higher than in KL, because we only have so much land. We need quality, affordable housing, where profit margins aren't quite as large for the developers. Yet, even if there are 1000 new condominiums and they cannot be filled by existing Penangites, do we really want people migrating into Penang, clogging the island with more cars, when public transport is so woefully lacking? And bear in mind, this plan is only by one developer. There will be others, some who will end up bankrupt, leaving cleared plots and half-raised structures in their wake. We already have enough of those.
More tourist attractions?
Apparently the state government is miffed that Penang was not on the list of the 3 must-see locations during Visit Malaysia Year 2007. They're considering building an attraction like a zoo or aquarium to pull in the tourists. Who needs a zoo when there's already one in Taiping and why build an aquarium when there's one in Langkawi? Must we have an attraction featuring trapped animals? Can we be sure they won't end up neglected like the ones in the KL Zoo? Besides, we already have the Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang. What we really need for tourism is to clean up the beaches and waters. Perhaps impose entrance fees, say $5 per car, to enter "state beaches". This is standard practice in the US.
Build something unique, educational and family-oriented
Many families spend their time week after week in shopping malls, which is a tragic waste of time and money. KL has the PetroSains Discovery Center. Penang could have a discovery center or children's museum catering to those aged 3-12. Boston has a fantastic one while the one in Ann Arbor shows that a smaller space and smaller budget can still translate into a good museum. A successful children's museum would automatically become an attractive tourist attraction.
Improve the culture factor
We have museums, art galleries, heritage houses and a library but how many Penangites actually visit all these places? We need to up the cool factor. Museums and galleries need to improve on their outreach programs. Coordinate with schools and encourage them to make regular field trips to these spots. The state education department could even direct schools to integrate state history into the curriculum, requiring visits to any 2 museums per school year.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
My Wish List for Malaysia (ongoing)
Reduce third-world mentality
We don't need kiasu attitudes like I-must-get-ahead-of-you-in-that-traffic-lane. We cannot be indifferent to our fellow people and excuse it as the Asian trait of shyness or segan when we don't help the old lady across the street or ignore a potential crime-in-progress. We have to quit being so petty, like the Education Ministry when it issued a directive to Penang schools to refrain from inviting non-BN VIPs to school events. (The Penang government smartly countered by removing teachers' obligations to attend state functions. Separation of education and politics - yay!).
Restore faith in the police
Gosh, wouldn't it be nice to be able to trust the police again? New slogans and badges won't cut it anymore... haven't they learned anything from the last elections? People don't want form over function. We want things to work as they should! We don't want the smirks and smart comments from police officers when we go to make a simple police report. We don't want to be told we are at the wrong police station or be given the run-around by police personnel who are too eager to pass the buck. And we don't want to hear anymore about police who refuse to respond to a burglar alarm at a resident because it occurred in the middle of the night!
Badawi said 2 days ago that the IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commissions) will be brought up in Parliament soon... but will it be the IPCMC developed 3 years ago, or the derivative SCC (Special Commission of Complaints) that gets tabled?
Improve road safety regulations
Statistics from 1996 indicate Malaysia has the highest rate of road accident fatalities WORLDWIDE. In a country where the government has their hands in everything and anything, there is so much more that can be done to keep our people safer on the roads. Tell all car manufacturers to abide by higher safety standards, like making airbags compulsory. No more making cars out of Milo tins (Proton, you listening?). Ban motorcycles from highways (I know, there'll be a massive revolt on this one). If you have to carry children on motorbikes, they must be wearing a proper-sized helmet (not 2 sizes fits all), in bright clothing, no more than 2 people on a bike, and travel at no more than 20 km/h. No more babies on laps in the car! Such a shame that only medium-income-and-above families can afford carseats priced at RM250 and up. Educate parents that this is one of the most important purchases to make. If they can't buy new, find one used.
Next: Limit awarding of Datuk-ships and such
We don't need kiasu attitudes like I-must-get-ahead-of-you-in-that-traffic-lane. We cannot be indifferent to our fellow people and excuse it as the Asian trait of shyness or segan when we don't help the old lady across the street or ignore a potential crime-in-progress. We have to quit being so petty, like the Education Ministry when it issued a directive to Penang schools to refrain from inviting non-BN VIPs to school events. (The Penang government smartly countered by removing teachers' obligations to attend state functions. Separation of education and politics - yay!).
Restore faith in the police
Gosh, wouldn't it be nice to be able to trust the police again? New slogans and badges won't cut it anymore... haven't they learned anything from the last elections? People don't want form over function. We want things to work as they should! We don't want the smirks and smart comments from police officers when we go to make a simple police report. We don't want to be told we are at the wrong police station or be given the run-around by police personnel who are too eager to pass the buck. And we don't want to hear anymore about police who refuse to respond to a burglar alarm at a resident because it occurred in the middle of the night!
Badawi said 2 days ago that the IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commissions) will be brought up in Parliament soon... but will it be the IPCMC developed 3 years ago, or the derivative SCC (Special Commission of Complaints) that gets tabled?
Improve road safety regulations
Statistics from 1996 indicate Malaysia has the highest rate of road accident fatalities WORLDWIDE. In a country where the government has their hands in everything and anything, there is so much more that can be done to keep our people safer on the roads. Tell all car manufacturers to abide by higher safety standards, like making airbags compulsory. No more making cars out of Milo tins (Proton, you listening?). Ban motorcycles from highways (I know, there'll be a massive revolt on this one). If you have to carry children on motorbikes, they must be wearing a proper-sized helmet (not 2 sizes fits all), in bright clothing, no more than 2 people on a bike, and travel at no more than 20 km/h. No more babies on laps in the car! Such a shame that only medium-income-and-above families can afford carseats priced at RM250 and up. Educate parents that this is one of the most important purchases to make. If they can't buy new, find one used.
Next: Limit awarding of Datuk-ships and such
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Links on the Terengganu Story
Raja Petra wrote a very enlightening article on the power struggles behind the current Terengganu Menteri Besar fiasco, explaining why the Agong chose Ahmad Said, and why Badawi is adamant Idris Jusoh is the MB. Take with a grain of salt, but well worth a read...
http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/4906/84/
Update March 27, 2am EST: Idris Jusoh stripped of Datuk-ship by the Agong? Guess his apology wasn't accepted...
Update March 27, 10am EST: The heavyweight match between PM vs Agong ends... Agong wins!
"Idris, who also took part in the meeting, had been directed to accept the endorsement [of Ahmad Said]..." (NST)
har har...
Update March 27, 2pm EST: Malaysiakini, on its free BM site, tracks the chronology of the Menteri Besar debacle, and its subscriber site reports on the events of the night, including a snippy Badawi telling the press that the details of what transpired during the UMNO supreme council meeting was not for them to know. It sucks having to lose face yet again, doesn't it?
http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/4906/84/
Update March 27, 2am EST: Idris Jusoh stripped of Datuk-ship by the Agong? Guess his apology wasn't accepted...
Update March 27, 10am EST: The heavyweight match between PM vs Agong ends... Agong wins!
"Idris, who also took part in the meeting, had been directed to accept the endorsement [of Ahmad Said]..." (NST)
har har...
Update March 27, 2pm EST: Malaysiakini, on its free BM site, tracks the chronology of the Menteri Besar debacle, and its subscriber site reports on the events of the night, including a snippy Badawi telling the press that the details of what transpired during the UMNO supreme council meeting was not for them to know. It sucks having to lose face yet again, doesn't it?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Will the Dust Never Settle?
Two weeks ago, Malaysians voted for a change. They got a bigger change than most even wanted. If we had a do-over election today, there's a fair chance the non-BN parties would not have won as big as they did. I believe Penang would still have fallen out of BN's hands, and perhaps Selangor too. But Perak, where the difference between the two "Barisans" was only 3 seats, compounded by the Menteri Besar flap, would probably still be BN-land. Kedah has been quiet lately so I'll assume people are ok with PAS, although the tourism industry can't be too pleased.
Penang
Lim Guan Eng is starting to come into his own. Where his father, Lim Kit Siang, lost some respect for suggesting the boycott of the Menteri Besar swearing-in ceremony (he later backtracked and personally apologized to Raja Nazrin), Guan Eng as DAP's secretary-general, gained some when he ordered his party officials to attend. He unknowingly blundered his first official statement as Penang Chief Minister when UMNO and even Badawi hyped up his perceived anti-NEP stance to mean he was anti-Malay. PAS and PKR came to his defense, saying it was the corrupt practices within NEP that needed to be thrown out, and Guan Eng has had to repeat this over and over to the press. He should know now to tread more carefully with his "shocking" reformist agenda. By all means, reform as needed, but it's time to keep the rhetoric down. We've heard the promises during the campaigns; now get to work. Looking into these bad land deals made during the previous administration is a good start.
As far as the in-house atmosphere goes, some of Dr Koh's former staff could not wait to jump ship, for different reasons: feelings of disloyalty, now that they are working for the "enemy", or simply perceiving the new administration as having suspicious, unfriendly faces. Others have embraced the new leadership enthusiastically, making them look like traitors in the eyes of their friends. Many are taking a wait-and-see approach. For now, they are needed because they know what they're doing and the new people don't. They don't expect to stay for long and are keeping their job options open.
As for the case of the disappearing files, I know some of the staff was in the office on the night of March 8th, dumping the contents of their drawers into boxes the way anyone would upon hearing they had lost their jobs. They were told to clear the office, then came the DAP people watching them with suspicion, while the police presence increased at least triple-fold. This was new territory; no new party had taken over the government before. However, Dr Koh was mindful that file-destroying allegations would surface following evidence of shredded official documents in Selangor, and he did not want to be sued by the incoming government. Thus his former staff was asked to stay on to help the new people find their way around. Who knows, maybe other staffers and former officials had more to hide.
The Executive
Back on the national level, the biggest event of the past week was the unveiling of Badawi's new cabinet. The most welcome news was that Malaysia's most-hated son-in-law was not on the list. The reformist-pleasers were the appointments of Zaid Ibrahim, whose task was to help restore public confidence in the judiciary, along with former Maybank CEO Amirsham Aziz, and long-time in-house critic Sharir Abdul Samad. The semi-shocker was that Rafidah Aziz was booted, as well as Tengku Adnan (implicated in the VK Lingam scandal) and Jamaluddin Jarjis (remembered for his racist remarks). The disappointment was that both Nazri Aziz (of "Bodoh!" fame) and Hishamuddin "Keris" Hussein (son of Tun Hussein Onn and cousin of Deputy PM Najib Razak) were retained. Interestingly, Nik Aziz stated in Malaysiakini that the new Cabinet had been engineered to remove pro-Najib people, inferring Badawi was seeking to insulate himself from a hostile takeover.
But the most mind-boggling news to me was the appointment of Muhammad Muhammad Taib, former Selangor Menteri Besar, who in 1997 was caught red-handed at the Brisbane airport with over RM2 million in cash. Investigations into his multi-million-dollar properties in Australia and New Zealand failed to land him convictions in both the Australian and Malaysian courts. Honestly, I want to believe that Badawi is not the inept, spineless, pushover that his critics make him out to be, but I simply cannot comprehend how he could elect a man who is so widely perceived as corrupt. Why not just keep Rafidah then? At least the Iron Lady kicks butt and gets things done. What has Mat Taib done in the past 11 years other than be an UMNO loyalist?
Terengganu
Two weeks along, and still no Menteri Besar. The battle between UMNO and the royalty exploded onto the frontpages today. On one side is former MB Idris Jusoh, with the public backing of Badawi, and 22 of the 23 UMNO state assemblymen; on the other is the Terengganu palace, who picked the 23rd assemblyman Ahmad Said as MB. Before Ahmad Said could be sworn in, UMNO kicked him out of the party for accepting the job. The palace is said to be displeased with Idris Jusoh for the Batu Burok incident, the water-cannoning of PAS supporters during the recent elections, and Idris' egotism. Since technically, the royal in charge is an 11-year-old boy, a royal committee has been handling the negotiations. The Sultan of Terengganu as Agong is legally barred from "interfering" with the Menteri Besar selection, but does anyone doubt he is calling the shots? However, the Agong may have to rethink his choice of Ahmad Said as the latter does not appear to be squeaky-clean either. As it is, the battle royale between Prime Minister and King is shaping up to be a very interesting one.
This post-election fortnight has been volatile, to say the least. BN is trying to keep it together and prevent defections; UMNO is fighting the royalty, the anti-Badawi camp, and DAP/PAS/PKR; and the informal Barisan Rakyat is trying to actually work with each other. When will everyone stop playing politics and start governing?
Penang
Lim Guan Eng is starting to come into his own. Where his father, Lim Kit Siang, lost some respect for suggesting the boycott of the Menteri Besar swearing-in ceremony (he later backtracked and personally apologized to Raja Nazrin), Guan Eng as DAP's secretary-general, gained some when he ordered his party officials to attend. He unknowingly blundered his first official statement as Penang Chief Minister when UMNO and even Badawi hyped up his perceived anti-NEP stance to mean he was anti-Malay. PAS and PKR came to his defense, saying it was the corrupt practices within NEP that needed to be thrown out, and Guan Eng has had to repeat this over and over to the press. He should know now to tread more carefully with his "shocking" reformist agenda. By all means, reform as needed, but it's time to keep the rhetoric down. We've heard the promises during the campaigns; now get to work. Looking into these bad land deals made during the previous administration is a good start.
As far as the in-house atmosphere goes, some of Dr Koh's former staff could not wait to jump ship, for different reasons: feelings of disloyalty, now that they are working for the "enemy", or simply perceiving the new administration as having suspicious, unfriendly faces. Others have embraced the new leadership enthusiastically, making them look like traitors in the eyes of their friends. Many are taking a wait-and-see approach. For now, they are needed because they know what they're doing and the new people don't. They don't expect to stay for long and are keeping their job options open.
As for the case of the disappearing files, I know some of the staff was in the office on the night of March 8th, dumping the contents of their drawers into boxes the way anyone would upon hearing they had lost their jobs. They were told to clear the office, then came the DAP people watching them with suspicion, while the police presence increased at least triple-fold. This was new territory; no new party had taken over the government before. However, Dr Koh was mindful that file-destroying allegations would surface following evidence of shredded official documents in Selangor, and he did not want to be sued by the incoming government. Thus his former staff was asked to stay on to help the new people find their way around. Who knows, maybe other staffers and former officials had more to hide.
The Executive
Back on the national level, the biggest event of the past week was the unveiling of Badawi's new cabinet. The most welcome news was that Malaysia's most-hated son-in-law was not on the list. The reformist-pleasers were the appointments of Zaid Ibrahim, whose task was to help restore public confidence in the judiciary, along with former Maybank CEO Amirsham Aziz, and long-time in-house critic Sharir Abdul Samad. The semi-shocker was that Rafidah Aziz was booted, as well as Tengku Adnan (implicated in the VK Lingam scandal) and Jamaluddin Jarjis (remembered for his racist remarks). The disappointment was that both Nazri Aziz (of "Bodoh!" fame) and Hishamuddin "Keris" Hussein (son of Tun Hussein Onn and cousin of Deputy PM Najib Razak) were retained. Interestingly, Nik Aziz stated in Malaysiakini that the new Cabinet had been engineered to remove pro-Najib people, inferring Badawi was seeking to insulate himself from a hostile takeover.
But the most mind-boggling news to me was the appointment of Muhammad Muhammad Taib, former Selangor Menteri Besar, who in 1997 was caught red-handed at the Brisbane airport with over RM2 million in cash. Investigations into his multi-million-dollar properties in Australia and New Zealand failed to land him convictions in both the Australian and Malaysian courts. Honestly, I want to believe that Badawi is not the inept, spineless, pushover that his critics make him out to be, but I simply cannot comprehend how he could elect a man who is so widely perceived as corrupt. Why not just keep Rafidah then? At least the Iron Lady kicks butt and gets things done. What has Mat Taib done in the past 11 years other than be an UMNO loyalist?
Terengganu
Two weeks along, and still no Menteri Besar. The battle between UMNO and the royalty exploded onto the frontpages today. On one side is former MB Idris Jusoh, with the public backing of Badawi, and 22 of the 23 UMNO state assemblymen; on the other is the Terengganu palace, who picked the 23rd assemblyman Ahmad Said as MB. Before Ahmad Said could be sworn in, UMNO kicked him out of the party for accepting the job. The palace is said to be displeased with Idris Jusoh for the Batu Burok incident, the water-cannoning of PAS supporters during the recent elections, and Idris' egotism. Since technically, the royal in charge is an 11-year-old boy, a royal committee has been handling the negotiations. The Sultan of Terengganu as Agong is legally barred from "interfering" with the Menteri Besar selection, but does anyone doubt he is calling the shots? However, the Agong may have to rethink his choice of Ahmad Said as the latter does not appear to be squeaky-clean either. As it is, the battle royale between Prime Minister and King is shaping up to be a very interesting one.
This post-election fortnight has been volatile, to say the least. BN is trying to keep it together and prevent defections; UMNO is fighting the royalty, the anti-Badawi camp, and DAP/PAS/PKR; and the informal Barisan Rakyat is trying to actually work with each other. When will everyone stop playing politics and start governing?
Friday, March 14, 2008
Adjusting to Power.. or the Lack of it
There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.
Ok, so we are screwed. Here are 3 categories of the power players in Malaysia today...
The Newly-Empowered:
Lim Kit Siang
His response to the Sultan of Perak's decision to appoint PAS' Nizar for the Menteri Besar position was disappointing, to say the least. Responses from his blog readers came swiftly, most in the negative. For those who were new supporters of Mr Lim in this recent campaign, particularly the Malays, it was downright embarrassing to see his perceived u-turn on judging Malaysians based on merit instead of race or creed. He also came under heavy criticism for disrespecting the royalty, for which he promptly apologized. Perhaps it was a case of old habits dying hard for the 67-year-old, accustomed to decades of criticizing the authorities at will. Or perhaps it was a rookie mistake, not knowing the requirements for a politician belonging to a ruling party, namely the art of subtlety and diplomacy. He should have aired his opinion to party members, not splashed it on his blog. BN was only too quick to jump on this faux pas, with much glee.
Syed Husin Ali
The deputy president of PKR threatened to pull out of the coalition government in Perak if they failed to get more than 1 representative in the State Executive Committee (exco). Come on, people! Please refrain from making these public comments and work things out in private! We want to see you solve problems, not whine about them.
And to think that a lot of this could have been averted if the candidates' qualifications were well-publicized in the first place. DAP Perak had been telling the press that the most qualified candidates from each party in the coalition had been nominated for the Menteri Besar position. But most people were forced to take that statement at face value, not knowing what exactly those qualifications were. Hence there was a lot of confusion when PAS, who had only 6 seats compared to DAP's 18, PKR's 7 , and BN's 28, appeared to have the front-runner candidate. In truth, PAS' Nizar is a multi-lingual mechanical engineer with vast experiences in domestic and foreign projects. Was this fact not publicized because DAP and PKR held out more than a little hope that their respective candidates would take the top job?
The Newly-Disempowered:
BN Leaders
Samy Vellu, Koh Tsu Koon, and former Perak MB Tajol Rosli all lost their high-ranking positions on March 8th. While Samy disappeared into the night with a sullen "goodbye", Tajol Rosli hunkered down in his palatial office and sobbed into the morning. Media persons waiting for a quote camped out from 8pm to 6am to no avail. In contrast, praise came from all quarters including media analysts and opposition party leaders for the way Dr Koh handled himself in defeat. He shook Lim Guan Eng's hand in congratulations for all the media to see on that difficult night, and a few days later sat in the front row with his elegant wife to witness Guan Eng's swearing-in when no other BN leader showed their faces. The only other loser who did not lose face was Shahrizat, who went to the polling station to concede defeat to Nurul Izzah. Too bad she missed the golden opportunity to personally salam with Izzah, instead relaying her congratulatory message to one of Izzah's aides.
UMNO Penang
They came marching to Komtar almost 2,000-strong after Friday prayers yesterday, protesting Lim Guan Eng's declaration that the state government would no longer practice NEP. When the BN was in complete power, social protests were blamed for causing racial disharmony. Why did no BN leader come out and speak against this rally? And the police knew the day before that the rally had been planned. Had they received an application for the rally? If they had, was it approved or denied? If they hadn't, why did they not demand the organizers apply for one? They did warn people through the mainstream media against joining the rally, and they did bring the FRU and their accompanying water cannons out when the first requests for dispersal went unheeded. However there have been rumblings that the police have yet to learn the rules of fair play in this changed political landscape. We didn't see any UMNO-ites dragged away by the police and thrown into jail under ISA, did we?
The Already-Empowered Finally Wielding their Might:
The Royals
Who ever knew they actually had power? All this while we've been used to them being mere rubber-stampers to the BN's will. For example, did anyone really think the Agong would deny Badawi permission to dissolve cabinet and clear the way for elections? There were rumors he tried to circumvent this by going on a vacation overseas, with the intention of forcing Badawi to hold elections after Anwar's ineligibility had expired. Badawi got wind of the trip and went to seek an audience with the Agong on the morning he was to leave.
Two days ago, the Sultan of Perak and Raja Nazrin had their say in choosing their state's Menteri Besar, and took things a step further in requiring each of the coalition's MP's to sign a letter of allegiance to the new Menteri Besar. Yesterday, the Sultan of Perlis ignored former MB Shahidan's recommendation (read: appointment) letter from Badawi and selected a Md Isa in his place. Rumors of an affair involving the former MB likely contributed to his downfall, along with his well-known rivalries with other local politicians including the Sultan's brother.
Next up is Terengganu. This is where BN's phantom voters supposedly congregated, because they assumed the threat of this state falling to the Opposition was bigger than in any other. BN ultimately won 24 of the 32 state seats. Former MB Idris Jusoh has the public support of the other 23 BN ADUN's to continue his stint as MB, but the Terengganu palace excluded him from the meeting at the palace today. Look for the Sultan of Terengganu, who is also the Agong, to make his authority known.
~Plato
Ok, so we are screwed. Here are 3 categories of the power players in Malaysia today...
The Newly-Empowered:
Lim Kit Siang
His response to the Sultan of Perak's decision to appoint PAS' Nizar for the Menteri Besar position was disappointing, to say the least. Responses from his blog readers came swiftly, most in the negative. For those who were new supporters of Mr Lim in this recent campaign, particularly the Malays, it was downright embarrassing to see his perceived u-turn on judging Malaysians based on merit instead of race or creed. He also came under heavy criticism for disrespecting the royalty, for which he promptly apologized. Perhaps it was a case of old habits dying hard for the 67-year-old, accustomed to decades of criticizing the authorities at will. Or perhaps it was a rookie mistake, not knowing the requirements for a politician belonging to a ruling party, namely the art of subtlety and diplomacy. He should have aired his opinion to party members, not splashed it on his blog. BN was only too quick to jump on this faux pas, with much glee.
Syed Husin Ali
The deputy president of PKR threatened to pull out of the coalition government in Perak if they failed to get more than 1 representative in the State Executive Committee (exco). Come on, people! Please refrain from making these public comments and work things out in private! We want to see you solve problems, not whine about them.
And to think that a lot of this could have been averted if the candidates' qualifications were well-publicized in the first place. DAP Perak had been telling the press that the most qualified candidates from each party in the coalition had been nominated for the Menteri Besar position. But most people were forced to take that statement at face value, not knowing what exactly those qualifications were. Hence there was a lot of confusion when PAS, who had only 6 seats compared to DAP's 18, PKR's 7 , and BN's 28, appeared to have the front-runner candidate. In truth, PAS' Nizar is a multi-lingual mechanical engineer with vast experiences in domestic and foreign projects. Was this fact not publicized because DAP and PKR held out more than a little hope that their respective candidates would take the top job?
The Newly-Disempowered:
BN Leaders
Samy Vellu, Koh Tsu Koon, and former Perak MB Tajol Rosli all lost their high-ranking positions on March 8th. While Samy disappeared into the night with a sullen "goodbye", Tajol Rosli hunkered down in his palatial office and sobbed into the morning. Media persons waiting for a quote camped out from 8pm to 6am to no avail. In contrast, praise came from all quarters including media analysts and opposition party leaders for the way Dr Koh handled himself in defeat. He shook Lim Guan Eng's hand in congratulations for all the media to see on that difficult night, and a few days later sat in the front row with his elegant wife to witness Guan Eng's swearing-in when no other BN leader showed their faces. The only other loser who did not lose face was Shahrizat, who went to the polling station to concede defeat to Nurul Izzah. Too bad she missed the golden opportunity to personally salam with Izzah, instead relaying her congratulatory message to one of Izzah's aides.
UMNO Penang
They came marching to Komtar almost 2,000-strong after Friday prayers yesterday, protesting Lim Guan Eng's declaration that the state government would no longer practice NEP. When the BN was in complete power, social protests were blamed for causing racial disharmony. Why did no BN leader come out and speak against this rally? And the police knew the day before that the rally had been planned. Had they received an application for the rally? If they had, was it approved or denied? If they hadn't, why did they not demand the organizers apply for one? They did warn people through the mainstream media against joining the rally, and they did bring the FRU and their accompanying water cannons out when the first requests for dispersal went unheeded. However there have been rumblings that the police have yet to learn the rules of fair play in this changed political landscape. We didn't see any UMNO-ites dragged away by the police and thrown into jail under ISA, did we?
The Already-Empowered Finally Wielding their Might:
The Royals
Who ever knew they actually had power? All this while we've been used to them being mere rubber-stampers to the BN's will. For example, did anyone really think the Agong would deny Badawi permission to dissolve cabinet and clear the way for elections? There were rumors he tried to circumvent this by going on a vacation overseas, with the intention of forcing Badawi to hold elections after Anwar's ineligibility had expired. Badawi got wind of the trip and went to seek an audience with the Agong on the morning he was to leave.
Two days ago, the Sultan of Perak and Raja Nazrin had their say in choosing their state's Menteri Besar, and took things a step further in requiring each of the coalition's MP's to sign a letter of allegiance to the new Menteri Besar. Yesterday, the Sultan of Perlis ignored former MB Shahidan's recommendation (read: appointment) letter from Badawi and selected a Md Isa in his place. Rumors of an affair involving the former MB likely contributed to his downfall, along with his well-known rivalries with other local politicians including the Sultan's brother.
Next up is Terengganu. This is where BN's phantom voters supposedly congregated, because they assumed the threat of this state falling to the Opposition was bigger than in any other. BN ultimately won 24 of the 32 state seats. Former MB Idris Jusoh has the public support of the other 23 BN ADUN's to continue his stint as MB, but the Terengganu palace excluded him from the meeting at the palace today. Look for the Sultan of Terengganu, who is also the Agong, to make his authority known.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Why BN Lost
The post-mortems, analyses, and dissections continue. The list of reasons for the "political tsunami" that washed away BN's power in 5 states are almost endless.
Among them: a relatively freer society under Badawi that has allowed dissent to flourish on the internet; Anwar's release from prison, also courtesy of Badawi; Badawi's weak leadership; reliance on bad advisors (who supposedly operate from "the fourth floor"); heavily favoring son-in-law Khairy, arguably the most hated person in the country; higher petrol, food and toll expenses; rising crime rates; the police's heavy-handedness in dealing with the Bersih and Hindraf rallies; and inheriting Mahathir's system of excessiveness.
The former-Opposition parties, DAP, PKR and PAS had rallies featuring crowd-pleasers like Anwar and Raja Petra Kamarudin; an anti-corruption agenda; a multi-racial platform; and an active anti-establishment blogging community.
But the main reason for their victory was for people like this:
...a voice in the crowd was overheard to have said: “It's not because I particularly liked anyone in the DAP or anything like that, but because we cannot stand anyone in BN that they (the former party) won. A dog could have stood for elections under their banner and we'd still pangkah it in.”
- From the Malaysian Insider, at the DAP supporters' gathering on the night Penang fell from BN's grasp.
At last, the silent majority had spoken.
Among them: a relatively freer society under Badawi that has allowed dissent to flourish on the internet; Anwar's release from prison, also courtesy of Badawi; Badawi's weak leadership; reliance on bad advisors (who supposedly operate from "the fourth floor"); heavily favoring son-in-law Khairy, arguably the most hated person in the country; higher petrol, food and toll expenses; rising crime rates; the police's heavy-handedness in dealing with the Bersih and Hindraf rallies; and inheriting Mahathir's system of excessiveness.
The former-Opposition parties, DAP, PKR and PAS had rallies featuring crowd-pleasers like Anwar and Raja Petra Kamarudin; an anti-corruption agenda; a multi-racial platform; and an active anti-establishment blogging community.
But the main reason for their victory was for people like this:
...a voice in the crowd was overheard to have said: “It's not because I particularly liked anyone in the DAP or anything like that, but because we cannot stand anyone in BN that they (the former party) won. A dog could have stood for elections under their banner and we'd still pangkah it in.”
- From the Malaysian Insider, at the DAP supporters' gathering on the night Penang fell from BN's grasp.
At last, the silent majority had spoken.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Aftermath
All I could say when I heard the results was: WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over and over again!
In summary, the BN was denied its 2/3 majority, PKR won 31 parliamentary seats (up from 1 in the last elections), DAP won 28 and PAS won 23. Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan all now belong to the "Opposition" . Total parliamentary seats: 222. BN : 137, Opp : 82, way more than the 70 it had aimed for!
The best parts:
- Samy Vellu lost! He had bragged that Dr Jeyakumar could contest him 25 times and he would still win. Now he is forced to eat his words!! Upon learning that he had lost, apparently he told some that he was leaving to take a shower and never came back. To reporters, he said "goodbye" and has never been seen since.
- Nurul Izzah won! I have nothing against Sharizat, but it's fantastic to see an intelligent young woman pull off a much-deserved win! Margin: almost 3000 votes.
- 49% of the popular vote was for anything but BN!
The spoilers:
- Khairy wins. The first reports had him winning by 100+ votes and so Chegu Bard asked for a recount. But in the end Khairy won by 5700 votes. However I read an interesting comment on one of the blogs today that it is good that Khairy won, so he can fight against Najib to become PM once the inevitable happens and Badawi steps down. While UMNO's internal combustion is an intriguing prospect, the thought that either one will be PM turns my stomach.
- My mother is out of a job. The earliest news from the polls was that Penang had fallen to the Opposition. Dr Koh lost by almost 10,000 votes, sealing his political demise. Apparently my mother didn't even have time to participate in the vote-count; by the time she got to the polling center the writing was already on the wall.
Other interesting points:
- Rumors abound that Mahathir had a hand in BN's massive loss. Badawi will now have to step down, having raised Mahathir's ire publicly since 2005, and Mahathir's favorite, Najib, will take over and restart the projects that were shelved by Badawi. Don't forget, the man ruled Malaysia for 22 years. He put in place the laws and machinery that suffocated the people's rights. It's not such a long shot that he still pulls the invisible strings even now.
- Teresa Kok won the Seputeh parliamentary seat by whupping Carol Chew's behind with a majority of almost 37,000 votes, the highest margin in these elections. Thanks for those sexist cartoons, Carol!
- Wan Azizah, Tian Chua, Sivarasa, Hannah Yeoh, Loh Gwo-Burne, Manoharan... all the famous PKR candidates won! LGB, start your BM lessons today! Wan Azizah won by 13,000, from 590 in the previous elections. Anwar should have no problems winning this seat in a by-election.
- My $50 contribution to these elections did not go to waste. Jeff Ooi won the Jelutong parliamentary seat (margin: 16,000), and Anwar Ibrahim won the hearts and minds of millions of Malaysians.
What's next?
- The BN is busy doing a post-mortem. Gerakan won 2 parliamentary seats, MIC 3, and MCA 15, down from 31. I wonder if Gerakan will now consider leaving the BN, seeing as how they've been the only ones who've dared to go against the BN line on occasion. Obviously, the non-Malays don't want to play racial politics anymore. UMNO did not lose big, showing they still have a large Malay following. Will it be Malay vs non-Malay in the next elections? I certainly hope not! But I wouldn't put it past UMNO to keep playing the race card.
- New Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim of PKR, announced that he would make radical changes: more transparency in viewing state documents, for example. He's on the right track: the ISA, UUCA, Printing & Publishing Act all need to be abolished and the EC completely revamped. But the biggest and most important change needs to be in the judicial system.
- In-coming Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng of DAP, immediately issued a statement to foreign businesses that he would foster a business-friendly environment, following reports of nerves in the economic sector. He will need to hire the best economic brains, perhaps even entice some overseas Malaysian financial experts back home. On a larger scale, I believe this new political landscape will be able to reverse the brain drain to some extent.
- For Penangites, it also means the end of the PGCC! The elitist development project must now be relegated to the archives. Many have been calling for the development of a "green lung" instead, a network of interconnected parks. I wouldn't mind seeing a man-made lake, a budget-friendly children's museum, and a dedicated theater/arts center included in the plans. And no more shopping malls!
It is certainly a new dawn in Malaysia. Let's see what morning brings.
In summary, the BN was denied its 2/3 majority, PKR won 31 parliamentary seats (up from 1 in the last elections), DAP won 28 and PAS won 23. Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan all now belong to the "Opposition" . Total parliamentary seats: 222. BN : 137, Opp : 82, way more than the 70 it had aimed for!
The best parts:
- Samy Vellu lost! He had bragged that Dr Jeyakumar could contest him 25 times and he would still win. Now he is forced to eat his words!! Upon learning that he had lost, apparently he told some that he was leaving to take a shower and never came back. To reporters, he said "goodbye" and has never been seen since.
- Nurul Izzah won! I have nothing against Sharizat, but it's fantastic to see an intelligent young woman pull off a much-deserved win! Margin: almost 3000 votes.
- 49% of the popular vote was for anything but BN!
The spoilers:
- Khairy wins. The first reports had him winning by 100+ votes and so Chegu Bard asked for a recount. But in the end Khairy won by 5700 votes. However I read an interesting comment on one of the blogs today that it is good that Khairy won, so he can fight against Najib to become PM once the inevitable happens and Badawi steps down. While UMNO's internal combustion is an intriguing prospect, the thought that either one will be PM turns my stomach.
- My mother is out of a job. The earliest news from the polls was that Penang had fallen to the Opposition. Dr Koh lost by almost 10,000 votes, sealing his political demise. Apparently my mother didn't even have time to participate in the vote-count; by the time she got to the polling center the writing was already on the wall.
Other interesting points:
- Rumors abound that Mahathir had a hand in BN's massive loss. Badawi will now have to step down, having raised Mahathir's ire publicly since 2005, and Mahathir's favorite, Najib, will take over and restart the projects that were shelved by Badawi. Don't forget, the man ruled Malaysia for 22 years. He put in place the laws and machinery that suffocated the people's rights. It's not such a long shot that he still pulls the invisible strings even now.
- Teresa Kok won the Seputeh parliamentary seat by whupping Carol Chew's behind with a majority of almost 37,000 votes, the highest margin in these elections. Thanks for those sexist cartoons, Carol!
- Wan Azizah, Tian Chua, Sivarasa, Hannah Yeoh, Loh Gwo-Burne, Manoharan... all the famous PKR candidates won! LGB, start your BM lessons today! Wan Azizah won by 13,000, from 590 in the previous elections. Anwar should have no problems winning this seat in a by-election.
- My $50 contribution to these elections did not go to waste. Jeff Ooi won the Jelutong parliamentary seat (margin: 16,000), and Anwar Ibrahim won the hearts and minds of millions of Malaysians.
What's next?
- The BN is busy doing a post-mortem. Gerakan won 2 parliamentary seats, MIC 3, and MCA 15, down from 31. I wonder if Gerakan will now consider leaving the BN, seeing as how they've been the only ones who've dared to go against the BN line on occasion. Obviously, the non-Malays don't want to play racial politics anymore. UMNO did not lose big, showing they still have a large Malay following. Will it be Malay vs non-Malay in the next elections? I certainly hope not! But I wouldn't put it past UMNO to keep playing the race card.
- New Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim of PKR, announced that he would make radical changes: more transparency in viewing state documents, for example. He's on the right track: the ISA, UUCA, Printing & Publishing Act all need to be abolished and the EC completely revamped. But the biggest and most important change needs to be in the judicial system.
- In-coming Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng of DAP, immediately issued a statement to foreign businesses that he would foster a business-friendly environment, following reports of nerves in the economic sector. He will need to hire the best economic brains, perhaps even entice some overseas Malaysian financial experts back home. On a larger scale, I believe this new political landscape will be able to reverse the brain drain to some extent.
- For Penangites, it also means the end of the PGCC! The elitist development project must now be relegated to the archives. Many have been calling for the development of a "green lung" instead, a network of interconnected parks. I wouldn't mind seeing a man-made lake, a budget-friendly children's museum, and a dedicated theater/arts center included in the plans. And no more shopping malls!
It is certainly a new dawn in Malaysia. Let's see what morning brings.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Things They Should Have Thought of BEFORE Election Day
While I enjoy living in the States where generally, things work like they are supposed to, this is one of the times I wish I was back home. I wish I had been back to attend the many ceramahs. I wish I had been able to feel the electricity of thousands of Malaysians coming together for our common good. And darn it, I wish I had been able to vote. Although looking at The Star Online lately has been an eyesore, I'm glad they brought up the subject of overseas Malaysians wanting to vote in today's "Oh, for the chance to cast vote by post."
As the reports on the ground come in, one has to wonder why the following were not brought up prior to the all-important Election Day.
Access for the disabled and the elderly. Don't the people setting up these polling stations have parents? You would think at least one 50-something poll station worker would have said, hey, how are the older folks going to climb up 4 flights of stairs to cast their ballots? We are notorious for not having ramps or disable-friendly facilities. I've had to carry my kids in their strollers up flights of stairs and over many longkangs. Looking on the bright side, I'm heartened to note there were people willing to physically lift the disabled up to the polling stations. Finally, the Star reporter noted, "Another voter Koh Hoon Eng said she was stranded for three hours before she was assisted to her polling stream. However, the problem was resolved an hour later when Returning Officer M. Ashaari Othman transferred a polling stream to the ground floor of the school, much to joy of the elderly folks." After 4 hours of waiting, I don't think joy is what they felt. Try relief, or perhaps the urge to smack the Returning Officer on the head for not acting sooner.
Hacking into the EC's database. Why, oh why, could this not have happened sooner? All those computer geeks out there, and only now does Mr Ong surface with his revelations. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad and awed that he spent the time to run almost 600 records through his script. But the timing certainly could have been a little better! Perhaps a court order could have been filed and the EC might have fixed all those duplicate records! Wait... the EC fix something? More like them being used to fix these elections... sigh.
So now we wait. A thought for all those hard-working volunteers going through stacks and stacks of ballots; a cog in the wheel of democracy. My mother is one of them.
As the reports on the ground come in, one has to wonder why the following were not brought up prior to the all-important Election Day.
Access for the disabled and the elderly. Don't the people setting up these polling stations have parents? You would think at least one 50-something poll station worker would have said, hey, how are the older folks going to climb up 4 flights of stairs to cast their ballots? We are notorious for not having ramps or disable-friendly facilities. I've had to carry my kids in their strollers up flights of stairs and over many longkangs. Looking on the bright side, I'm heartened to note there were people willing to physically lift the disabled up to the polling stations. Finally, the Star reporter noted, "Another voter Koh Hoon Eng said she was stranded for three hours before she was assisted to her polling stream. However, the problem was resolved an hour later when Returning Officer M. Ashaari Othman transferred a polling stream to the ground floor of the school, much to joy of the elderly folks." After 4 hours of waiting, I don't think joy is what they felt. Try relief, or perhaps the urge to smack the Returning Officer on the head for not acting sooner.
Hacking into the EC's database. Why, oh why, could this not have happened sooner? All those computer geeks out there, and only now does Mr Ong surface with his revelations. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad and awed that he spent the time to run almost 600 records through his script. But the timing certainly could have been a little better! Perhaps a court order could have been filed and the EC might have fixed all those duplicate records! Wait... the EC fix something? More like them being used to fix these elections... sigh.
So now we wait. A thought for all those hard-working volunteers going through stacks and stacks of ballots; a cog in the wheel of democracy. My mother is one of them.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Makkal Sakthi?
And I thought the 10,000 crowd at Han Chiang on March 1st was huge...
This crowd tonight at DAP's rally in Han Chiang is said to be 30,000-60,000 -strong. This, and more pictures are from the Malaysian Insider. According to audience members, Jeff Ooi provided the entertainment, singing and playing the guitar. I hope he's enjoying this! It's probably the only time he'll play to bigger crowds than Siti Nurhaliza and Mawi at BN rallies!
Dare we compare this to BN's Anwar-bashing rally just the night before? Thirty-five hundred people turned up at Rifle Range to listen to Badawi and Dr Koh.
I have to say I'm relieved the police did not try to stop the rally tonight. But was this a display of Makkal Sakthi (people's power)? Or will 1995 repeat itself and show a disconnect between crowds at rallies and votes in the ballot box?
Other sobering points... not many Malays in the crowd. Perhaps there would have been more if Anwar had been scheduled to speak? Tonight Wan Azizah was there instead. Or perhaps more likely, Malays still view a multi-racial party with deep suspicion, expecting a loss of power, property and rights if a Malay party was no longer calling the shots.
Neither is the young, urban voter someone the Opposition can count on. All their lives, they have known suppression of dissent. Let's face it, you could get smacked in the mouth for talking back to your parents. And blasted by water cannons if you speak up against the government. Young urbanites just want to be left alone and are not willing to put up with major change.
In about 32 hours, polling begins. I hope and pray all the blood, sweat and tears spent fighting for a better Malaysia will not be for naught.
This crowd tonight at DAP's rally in Han Chiang is said to be 30,000-60,000 -strong. This, and more pictures are from the Malaysian Insider. According to audience members, Jeff Ooi provided the entertainment, singing and playing the guitar. I hope he's enjoying this! It's probably the only time he'll play to bigger crowds than Siti Nurhaliza and Mawi at BN rallies!
Dare we compare this to BN's Anwar-bashing rally just the night before? Thirty-five hundred people turned up at Rifle Range to listen to Badawi and Dr Koh.
I have to say I'm relieved the police did not try to stop the rally tonight. But was this a display of Makkal Sakthi (people's power)? Or will 1995 repeat itself and show a disconnect between crowds at rallies and votes in the ballot box?
Other sobering points... not many Malays in the crowd. Perhaps there would have been more if Anwar had been scheduled to speak? Tonight Wan Azizah was there instead. Or perhaps more likely, Malays still view a multi-racial party with deep suspicion, expecting a loss of power, property and rights if a Malay party was no longer calling the shots.
Neither is the young, urban voter someone the Opposition can count on. All their lives, they have known suppression of dissent. Let's face it, you could get smacked in the mouth for talking back to your parents. And blasted by water cannons if you speak up against the government. Young urbanites just want to be left alone and are not willing to put up with major change.
In about 32 hours, polling begins. I hope and pray all the blood, sweat and tears spent fighting for a better Malaysia will not be for naught.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Fighting Against The Odds
Once upon a time, perhaps it was during the 1990 election, I remember my parents driving me through some pro-Opposition areas in Penang. DAP's rocket posters were densely papered here and I would look at them almost guiltily because they were advertising for the "enemy."
Eighteen years on, I have to admit, I've begun to admire the long-time DAP leaders more and more. People like Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh have been constantly vilified by the BN as noisemakers, even troublemakers, out to spread fear and discontent among the public. With BN's father-knows-best mentality, disobedient children like the Opposition are trivialized, embarrassed, and outcast. After 30 years of this, most children would have tolerated it no more, packed their bags and moved out of the house. Yet, here are these old folks, hanging tough, and fighting on. Their indomitable spirit is astounding to me. It's gratifying now to see them showing up at ceramah after ceramah, cheered on by thousands of their fellow citizens.
I admire their fighting spirit, because mine is fledgling in light of all the discouraging news coming out this last week before the election. At the top of the list of course, is the EC backtracking on their promise to use indelible ink to mark voters who have cast their vote. The EC agreed in June of 2007 to use the ink. They had all these months to investigate potential problems that have cropped up in the various countries that have used it over the years. They certainly had more than enough time to realize they could not make it compulsory for all voters to be marked. Do your research, people! But they chose to spend the RM2 million first and brag about being "clean" and "transparent". The sweet promises turned out to be empty ones, which also happens to be BN's trademark.
The EC also has the nerve to pooh-pooh the discrepancies in the electoral roll. Five hundred non-existent residents in an abandoned markas in Penang? Ala... people move, they don't tell us, so it's not our fault. Nine thousand voters over 100 years old? Those people are still alive, what! Even if they're dead, the National Registry didn't tell us, so it's not our fault. Talk about passing the buck. If it's not the EC's responsibility to maintain the electoral roll, whose is it??
And how about all those "new" voters cropping up? Did 14,000 adults, all conveniently registered to vote, move into Permatang Pauh in the last 4 years? Of those, 6,000 are postal voters which are perhaps 90% for the BN. If the same number of people vote for Wan Azizah and PKR as they did in 2004, when she won by 590 votes, then BN will win this one by a "thumping majority" come Saturday. This funnelling of thousands of votes into an opposition area is not new. In 1999, PAS captured Terengganu. In 2004, 9300 fewer people voted for PAS, a decline of 5.2%, but 93,000 more voted for BN, a mind-boggling increase of 72%. It's as good as BN saying, yes, we're cheating you, everyone knows it, but no one can do a damn thing about it.
Then there are the infamous postal votes. Civic-minded students overseas have spent loads of time and money trying to get their hands on a postal ballot. They put up with embassy and consulate workers ignorant of voting procedures and the rights of Malaysian citizens. One embassy representative even let it slip that she thought only government-sponsored students were allowed to vote from overseas. One student called up his embassy twice to verify the day to cast his postal ballot, only to find out after he made the trip that voting had been carried out the day before. Sorry, try again next year.
Honestly, how do we keep our spirits alive with all the odds against us? To fight on, you need hope and the government has done a terrific job of taking the hope for a true democracy away from us.
So to Kit Siang and Karpal, we need you. Keep on fighting. Salud.
Eighteen years on, I have to admit, I've begun to admire the long-time DAP leaders more and more. People like Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh have been constantly vilified by the BN as noisemakers, even troublemakers, out to spread fear and discontent among the public. With BN's father-knows-best mentality, disobedient children like the Opposition are trivialized, embarrassed, and outcast. After 30 years of this, most children would have tolerated it no more, packed their bags and moved out of the house. Yet, here are these old folks, hanging tough, and fighting on. Their indomitable spirit is astounding to me. It's gratifying now to see them showing up at ceramah after ceramah, cheered on by thousands of their fellow citizens.
I admire their fighting spirit, because mine is fledgling in light of all the discouraging news coming out this last week before the election. At the top of the list of course, is the EC backtracking on their promise to use indelible ink to mark voters who have cast their vote. The EC agreed in June of 2007 to use the ink. They had all these months to investigate potential problems that have cropped up in the various countries that have used it over the years. They certainly had more than enough time to realize they could not make it compulsory for all voters to be marked. Do your research, people! But they chose to spend the RM2 million first and brag about being "clean" and "transparent". The sweet promises turned out to be empty ones, which also happens to be BN's trademark.
The EC also has the nerve to pooh-pooh the discrepancies in the electoral roll. Five hundred non-existent residents in an abandoned markas in Penang? Ala... people move, they don't tell us, so it's not our fault. Nine thousand voters over 100 years old? Those people are still alive, what! Even if they're dead, the National Registry didn't tell us, so it's not our fault. Talk about passing the buck. If it's not the EC's responsibility to maintain the electoral roll, whose is it??
And how about all those "new" voters cropping up? Did 14,000 adults, all conveniently registered to vote, move into Permatang Pauh in the last 4 years? Of those, 6,000 are postal voters which are perhaps 90% for the BN. If the same number of people vote for Wan Azizah and PKR as they did in 2004, when she won by 590 votes, then BN will win this one by a "thumping majority" come Saturday. This funnelling of thousands of votes into an opposition area is not new. In 1999, PAS captured Terengganu. In 2004, 9300 fewer people voted for PAS, a decline of 5.2%, but 93,000 more voted for BN, a mind-boggling increase of 72%. It's as good as BN saying, yes, we're cheating you, everyone knows it, but no one can do a damn thing about it.
Then there are the infamous postal votes. Civic-minded students overseas have spent loads of time and money trying to get their hands on a postal ballot. They put up with embassy and consulate workers ignorant of voting procedures and the rights of Malaysian citizens. One embassy representative even let it slip that she thought only government-sponsored students were allowed to vote from overseas. One student called up his embassy twice to verify the day to cast his postal ballot, only to find out after he made the trip that voting had been carried out the day before. Sorry, try again next year.
Honestly, how do we keep our spirits alive with all the odds against us? To fight on, you need hope and the government has done a terrific job of taking the hope for a true democracy away from us.
So to Kit Siang and Karpal, we need you. Keep on fighting. Salud.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Penang Potential
Anil Netto was at this much-anticipated rally at Han Chiang High School last night...
Anwar, Guan Eng join hands to rock Penang
This was one of the big ones.
It was one those evenings where you just had to be there to experience the growing sentiment among Penangites seeking change and reforms.
Some 10,000 converged at the indoor stadium of the private Han Chiang High School in Penang.
Imagine the traffic jams! Kalah Pesta!
Penangites are known to be a fickle sort, come election time. In 1969 they voted then-opposition party Gerakan into power. Gerakan joined BN in 1974 and has evolved into a party of apologists, almost on the same level as MCA and MIC (one notable difference is that they dared bring up the Bangsa Malaysia concept of multi-racialism last year). In 1990, the same year 21-year Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu passed the baton to Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Penangites again revolted; the DAP came within 3 seats of taking over the state. The following elections, DAP was left with a single seat.
This year, it is Dr Koh's turn to pass the baton, but few seem to agree on who the next best Chief Minister is. Will Penangites turn to the Opposition again? There are more issues at hand than just Dr Koh's departure of course. The man is a very likable person, with none of the arrogance or pretentiousness I've seen in UMNO leaders much lower on the rungs of the political ladder. However, he has been accused of being too nice and indecisive. I think the last straw for some people was when the PGCC project was announced, as part of a string of economic corridors Badawi wants to build across the country.
Anyone driving in Penang knows what a nightmare the traffic issue has become. PGCC is certain to exacerbate that. The main road in front of the Turf Club gets terribly congested at different times of the day, and this is without any form of construction whatsoever. What kind of hell will it turn to when contractors start to build 40 high-rise towers in that spot? Then there are the environmental concerns, the questions over Patrick Lim and whether he is a government crony, and the indignation that nobody bothered to ask Penangites what they wanted in the first place. Many, many jobs will be created, mainly for construction workers, and we all know Penangites are just lining out the door to fill these back-breaking positions - NOT.
There are many other on-going issues of course. Once the premier tourist destination in Malaysia, Penang beaches have degenerated into dirty sands with murky waters. Its reputation as an IT hub suffered a major embarrassment* with the still-unsolved theft of Intel chips worth RM50million from the Penang airport in November 2006 and supposedly led to the company cutting back its operations in the state. We can't escape the racial issues: the Malays, now a minority, feel sidelined by the Chinese majority. On a half-wall where a home used to stand along Jalan Tanjung Bunga, a tsunami victim scrawled, "Di mana hak orang Melayu?"
In this cosmopolitan state of 1.3 million where 80% are urban-dwellers, Penang's population is 47% Chinese, 43% Malay, and 11% Indian (year 2000 stats). Gerakan, MCA, UMNO, MIC, DAP, PKR and PAS all have state and/or parliamentary seats here. Penangites have the potential to be the first in Malaysia to practice the concept of Bangsa Malaysia. Now, if only Anwar can convince the Malays to support him again...
*Update March 2nd, 2:03am: Malaysiakini broke this story about a letter Dr Koh sent to Badawi on December 3, 2007, essentially warning Badawi that Motorola would pull the plug on its Penang operations, flushing 10,000 jobs down the drain, unless the federal government approved an RM1 billion deal for the company to upgrade the police force's radio network. Can't wait to see the fallout from this one!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Public vs. The Politicians at Bukit Gasing
The candidates for the PJ Selatan parliamentary seat (deputy tourism minister Donald Lim and PKR's Hee Loy Sian) and the Bukit Gasing state seat (MCA's Dr Lim Thuan Seng and DAP's Edward Lee) held a "closed-door" Q&A session with their constituents at a local church. I wonder if the "closed door" was meant to keep the press out, because clearly, it didn't work. Or maybe it was to keep the Malays out?
The Star gave a very watered-down version of events under the title "Bukit Gasing's 'Zero-Development' Drive". It must suck to be a reporter of political events at a government-owned newspaper, muzzled and muffled, and having to use your creative juices to present things in the best possible light for the government. And that was a difficult task this time.
Malaysiakini wrote, "Donald Booed at Church Forum" and appeared to relish the fact that the BN candidates were getting the hard questions and scorn of the public.
The Sun reported, "Plenty of Laughs, Jeers and Boos at Dialogue." The brief article captured the essence of the event.
Malaysiavotes.com had the best coverage, thanks to a report from a citizen at the event. "The 'Miracle' of Bukit Gasing" story was neutral and comprehensive, and some Malays are sure to take offense with the closing prayer. Lantak lah.
Wouldn't it be great if there were more of these sessions?
The Star gave a very watered-down version of events under the title "Bukit Gasing's 'Zero-Development' Drive". It must suck to be a reporter of political events at a government-owned newspaper, muzzled and muffled, and having to use your creative juices to present things in the best possible light for the government. And that was a difficult task this time.
Malaysiakini wrote, "Donald Booed at Church Forum" and appeared to relish the fact that the BN candidates were getting the hard questions and scorn of the public.
The Sun reported, "Plenty of Laughs, Jeers and Boos at Dialogue." The brief article captured the essence of the event.
Malaysiavotes.com had the best coverage, thanks to a report from a citizen at the event. "The 'Miracle' of Bukit Gasing" story was neutral and comprehensive, and some Malays are sure to take offense with the closing prayer. Lantak lah.
Wouldn't it be great if there were more of these sessions?
A Couple of Questions
A few points which I hope will be investigated or clarified soon...
1) Why the no-show contestants?
The latest count shows that BN has won 11 seats uncontested, with another possibly in the bag as reports surfaced of the PKR parliamentary candidate in Kulim being investigated for not turning in his financial statements. Another PKR candidate was previously disqualified for the same reason. The PKR person who was to take on Azalina did not show up; apparently his family disappeared for a few days and some members resurfaced, but not the candidate-to-be himself. The student party whose lone candidate was to take on Badawi in a 3-corner contest, found himself physically barred by police when attempting to submit his nomination papers. PKR's man for Sandakan found his candidacy rejected by the EC without cause. The BN candidate-to-be who handed PAS and the Opposition its lone uncontested seat in Kelantan by being declared a bankrupt denied the charge.
What happened to the other 8 seats that went uncontested? What happened to those people who were supposed to contest? There have been allegations of opposition members being bribed (by whom, I wonder) to stand down. The Kepala Batas incident of candidates being physically intimidated was not an isolated one.
So here comes the inanity of the nomination day process. Why allow JUST 1 HOUR for candidates to submit their papers? Why can't it be a whole day? A person could easily be ineligible just for being caught in a traffic jam. And how can the EC make judgements on who is eligible or not in JUST 1 HOUR following the candidacy submissions? Don't they need to do background checks? And why can't the EC explicitly state WHY a candidate was rejected and provide supporting arguments for their decision?
And if those allegations of the POLICE using their might to stop candidates from entering the nomination centers are true... how dare they. But they've built a good track record of hindering with democracy with a little help from their chemical-laced water pumps, so should we really be surprised anymore.
2) How can an imprisoned person contest in the elections?
Manoharan, one of the Hindraf leaders now sitting in jail, thanks to the ISA, is a candidate in the Kota Alam Shah state seat. The lawyer said his imprisonment should not be a factor for voters trying to decide who to vote for. I don't even understand how the man is eligible - is this a loophole in the law that the BN will close through yet another amendment when they return to power? If Manoharan is imprisoned for more than a year, does he lose his seat, assuming he wins? A vote for him is a vote against the ISA, against suppressing the freedom of expression, and for raising the profile of the oppressed. But don't expect your streetlights to get fixed.
1) Why the no-show contestants?
The latest count shows that BN has won 11 seats uncontested, with another possibly in the bag as reports surfaced of the PKR parliamentary candidate in Kulim being investigated for not turning in his financial statements. Another PKR candidate was previously disqualified for the same reason. The PKR person who was to take on Azalina did not show up; apparently his family disappeared for a few days and some members resurfaced, but not the candidate-to-be himself. The student party whose lone candidate was to take on Badawi in a 3-corner contest, found himself physically barred by police when attempting to submit his nomination papers. PKR's man for Sandakan found his candidacy rejected by the EC without cause. The BN candidate-to-be who handed PAS and the Opposition its lone uncontested seat in Kelantan by being declared a bankrupt denied the charge.
What happened to the other 8 seats that went uncontested? What happened to those people who were supposed to contest? There have been allegations of opposition members being bribed (by whom, I wonder) to stand down. The Kepala Batas incident of candidates being physically intimidated was not an isolated one.
So here comes the inanity of the nomination day process. Why allow JUST 1 HOUR for candidates to submit their papers? Why can't it be a whole day? A person could easily be ineligible just for being caught in a traffic jam. And how can the EC make judgements on who is eligible or not in JUST 1 HOUR following the candidacy submissions? Don't they need to do background checks? And why can't the EC explicitly state WHY a candidate was rejected and provide supporting arguments for their decision?
And if those allegations of the POLICE using their might to stop candidates from entering the nomination centers are true... how dare they. But they've built a good track record of hindering with democracy with a little help from their chemical-laced water pumps, so should we really be surprised anymore.
2) How can an imprisoned person contest in the elections?
Manoharan, one of the Hindraf leaders now sitting in jail, thanks to the ISA, is a candidate in the Kota Alam Shah state seat. The lawyer said his imprisonment should not be a factor for voters trying to decide who to vote for. I don't even understand how the man is eligible - is this a loophole in the law that the BN will close through yet another amendment when they return to power? If Manoharan is imprisoned for more than a year, does he lose his seat, assuming he wins? A vote for him is a vote against the ISA, against suppressing the freedom of expression, and for raising the profile of the oppressed. But don't expect your streetlights to get fixed.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Ok, so I am pro-Opposition, but...
1) ...even I don't believe in this idealistic proposal...
As I said earlier, PKR's proposal of a RM1500/month minimum wage is unrealistic. It likely does reflect the amount needed to live in Malaysia, but I hear RM1500/month is what fresh bachelors' graduates from fancy US universities make.
What about the "masses"? Jobstreet's Salary Report states entry-level cashiers make RM600-RM900 per month. Entry-level teachers make RM700-RM1600 a month, increasing to RM1200-RM2100 for mid-level teachers. You have to figure that many people at mid-level positions will by then have extra mouths to feed, so they would have to set aside a big chunk for diapers and a maid.
The point is, millions of people are working at jobs that pay way under RM1500 a month. Imposing a minumum wage of that level will put a lot of small businesses in big trouble. Imagine all the mom-n-pop, or makcik-n-pakcik and auntie-n-uncle shops that will have to tutup kedai.
2) ...what credentials do these people have exactly?
Malaysiakini reported on a couple of young PKR candidates who are making their election debut.
Loh Gwo Burne was living in China when the Lingam-gate scandal broke and he was called back home to testify on his role as the secret camera-man. While I commend his decision to become politically active, I would want to know if he plans on going back to his life in China? Or split his time somehow if he were an MP? Dude, when was the last time you were back in Subang Jaya? Contesting a parliamentary seat lagi... what do you know about Malaysian politics, other than it's dirty?
Hannah Yeoh, contesting in Subang Jaya's state seat, said, "I’m racing against time in these two weeks. Give me your votes first. We can work out the issues later. I will do what you want me to do in the next five years. Two weeks (of campaigning) is not enough."
Agreed. Two weeks of campaigning is ridiculously short. But lady, how can I give you my vote if I don't know what you're going to do?? She did state "security and crime" as the issues she would tackle. And surprisingly, the Star did a better job of reporting on her, or perhaps she was better prepared after the Malaysiakini interview. Of course, being pretty always helps, especially when it comes to the media.
Bit of advice, people: Use the internet. Have a personal political website that states your visions, your convictions, and publicize the hell out of it. Send mass-emails, mass-sms'es. Let everyone know you are serious about being a representative of the people, not just hot-hot chicken s**t!
Update on Feb 28th: My fault for not searching for the candidates' blog sites earlier. Sometimes when it's 4am and you have to be up at 6:30am all you want to do is publish the post and worry about it later!
Here is Helen Ang writing on her reservations regarding Loh Gwo Burne's candidacy.
Here is Loh Gwo Burne's website. I had to scroll almost all the way to the bottom of the page before I found his explanation for standing for office. Am not impressed with the website; it's a Readers' Digest-type collection of articles and graphics, but lacks his voice.
Here is Hannah Yeoh's site. We get to meet the candidate and hear her voice, but you have to go to her manager, Edward Ling's website for the details on where Hannah will be speaking, how to donate to her campaign and such.
As I said earlier, PKR's proposal of a RM1500/month minimum wage is unrealistic. It likely does reflect the amount needed to live in Malaysia, but I hear RM1500/month is what fresh bachelors' graduates from fancy US universities make.
What about the "masses"? Jobstreet's Salary Report states entry-level cashiers make RM600-RM900 per month. Entry-level teachers make RM700-RM1600 a month, increasing to RM1200-RM2100 for mid-level teachers. You have to figure that many people at mid-level positions will by then have extra mouths to feed, so they would have to set aside a big chunk for diapers and a maid.
The point is, millions of people are working at jobs that pay way under RM1500 a month. Imposing a minumum wage of that level will put a lot of small businesses in big trouble. Imagine all the mom-n-pop, or makcik-n-pakcik and auntie-n-uncle shops that will have to tutup kedai.
2) ...what credentials do these people have exactly?
Malaysiakini reported on a couple of young PKR candidates who are making their election debut.
Loh Gwo Burne was living in China when the Lingam-gate scandal broke and he was called back home to testify on his role as the secret camera-man. While I commend his decision to become politically active, I would want to know if he plans on going back to his life in China? Or split his time somehow if he were an MP? Dude, when was the last time you were back in Subang Jaya? Contesting a parliamentary seat lagi... what do you know about Malaysian politics, other than it's dirty?
Hannah Yeoh, contesting in Subang Jaya's state seat, said, "I’m racing against time in these two weeks. Give me your votes first. We can work out the issues later. I will do what you want me to do in the next five years. Two weeks (of campaigning) is not enough."
Agreed. Two weeks of campaigning is ridiculously short. But lady, how can I give you my vote if I don't know what you're going to do?? She did state "security and crime" as the issues she would tackle. And surprisingly, the Star did a better job of reporting on her, or perhaps she was better prepared after the Malaysiakini interview. Of course, being pretty always helps, especially when it comes to the media.
Bit of advice, people: Use the internet. Have a personal political website that states your visions, your convictions, and publicize the hell out of it. Send mass-emails, mass-sms'es. Let everyone know you are serious about being a representative of the people, not just hot-hot chicken s**t!
Update on Feb 28th: My fault for not searching for the candidates' blog sites earlier. Sometimes when it's 4am and you have to be up at 6:30am all you want to do is publish the post and worry about it later!
Here is Helen Ang writing on her reservations regarding Loh Gwo Burne's candidacy.
Here is Loh Gwo Burne's website. I had to scroll almost all the way to the bottom of the page before I found his explanation for standing for office. Am not impressed with the website; it's a Readers' Digest-type collection of articles and graphics, but lacks his voice.
Here is Hannah Yeoh's site. We get to meet the candidate and hear her voice, but you have to go to her manager, Edward Ling's website for the details on where Hannah will be speaking, how to donate to her campaign and such.
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