Sometimes A Nudge and Insult Is Necessary

I was reading Ambiga's interview with Malaysiakini just now. I must say that given of the past history of EC not really doing much in its electoral reforms, this has already raised the need of civil societies and election watchdogs to pressure, or in another word, "nudge" the commission to do as what they have demanded simply with the argument of that they have the similar role capacity of a federal court judge, as what she said.

The few paragraphs from the interview pointed to that above:

However, in a recent interview with Malaysiakini, Ambiga said she believes that the electoral reform movement must engage with the EC, and that the commission will change only under pressure from the people.

“I still have hope. I still have hope that things can move,” she said firmly.

The former Bar Council president reiterated that the federal constitution places election commissioner on the same position as a federal court judge, therefore leaving the EC out of the picture of electoral reform would be a mistake.
“I think we probably have to do both (EC and ruling parties). The EC may feel they are powerless, we don't agree and sometimes it is a question of empowerment, and we have to keep persuading them that in fact, they have power more than they think they have.

“They are the body, in my view, it is their responsibility. Shifting the focus away from them would be the wrong thing to do because you are sending the message that they are not responsible for the state of elections in this country and I disagree with that.

“I think they are entirely responsible and there are many thing they can do and I think if they have to take a stand against the government, they have to do it because they are an independent body, they are the ones who should be doing it,” she said.

And to cap things up very interestingly, Bersih 2.0 has given them exactly 90 days to implement the reforms as some sort of an ultimatum, not really, but I feel that it also adds to another way of nudging the Election Commission to do a lot clean up and fixing. Many have believed that Pakatan can win well in election, but if they lose, it's likely of the vote fraud and manipulation. Therefore, the ball is now in the EC's court. Now is the time. The chances of holding a general election end of this year has been stalled following the world market meltdown in the last 4 days. Almost RM 100 billion got wiped out in the local stock market. When this happened, all of Najib's economical programs will substantially delayed and the ETP being limped and dragged to next year at most - meaning no elections at this point of time and only next year

Interestingly. I feel that it is important to move one more level up. The level of awareness of fraud election and the mismanagement by the present government of the day at the rural areas is still at the unsatisfactory level. The main factor is no doubt the lack of access to alternative media whereas the national media is hogged with pro-government stuff. Therefore, what Wan Ahmad said of the present media being fair is not really accurate, but a mere excuse to skirt out of the eight demands that Bersih was demanding about.

It's true that currently Bersih's impact doesn't reach much in the rural area. There is a need to get people there to realize. I've noticed that PR has embarked on a strategy to coincide with the Raya celebrations. During the Tenang by-election campaign, several news reports have pointed out that voters there don't really give a damn or totally ignorant to the present problems faced - inflation, bread and butter difficulties, etc.. they just have the blind faith on the leaders. To some, relying on the profit of palm oil, rubber and so forth would not help much. With the kind of mindset, the country cannot progress that far.

Example of responses would include: "I don't know; I heard they wanted to demonstrate or whatever; I don't care about politics;" - and allow me to add to that - "Do I care?" 

How are people going to convince these people of the mistakes that they are making? Didn't someone said of the saying "Blind faith to the leaders will get you killed?" From my understanding, the young who were originated from the rural areas have already started to educate their relatives, family and friends in the areas of new things that they ought to know. But the problem is of the mindset of unwilling to take in the eye-opening revelations. Excuses would come in the way.

So I think, that sometimes verbal insults have to be necessary to shake up and reveal things. It may be crazy, and yes some will call me crazy but sometimes it will get people to realize of their mistakes. I once recalled scolding an Indian amah during the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign, that when I read of the woman's laments of no help for the last 20 years despite repeated requests and yet voted for the same party over and over again. As the saying goes, if you don't like it, then change it. That got me wondering whether if it's lack of knowledge or blind faith that plays the scenario.

This is why I said that nudging and insult sometimes can be necessary, although it can be bad.

Sarawak's Post-Election Good and Bad

If I am to go into campaigning in Sarawak for the elections, there is a baseline rule that you need to keep in mind before I even start any campaign speeches - which is to understand the race mindset. It is important to establish the fact that a voter's mindset varies on races. From my basic understanding, the voter mindset pattern is at:

1. The Malays would always think back of the past as past histories - which implies of unwillingness to change out of possible repercussions.

2. The Chinese are the opposite: they would try to think ahead in the future.

3. In the Peninsular - the Indians are minding more on the present issues.

The base rule above is basically how you approach the target of voters in a voting area.

It took me a while to go through the whole news post Sarawak state-election, which is why I was not ready to comment on this immediately after the last week elections. On the night of the results, a friend of mine asked me of my comment and opinion on the results. From the first glance, when I saw the results shown, my first impression on the results was that I remarked, "People succumbing to the Devil's Temptation." 

Why would I say that is simply although there is a strong sentiment on "Hate Taib", but people are not willing to change, particularly those in the rural areas. Most of them would vote the same line out of fear of repercussions. Secondly, since Sarawak is mostly comprises of a Christian community, I was sure that they do believe in the stories of Temptation, being the third main canon (sequential order) of the life of Jesus. There are similar lines running along the story of Temptation and what happens during the campaigning period of Sarawak.

However, the results is a good and bad thing. A double-edge sword. The good thing is that Taib, being a wily man have managed to prevent UMNO from taking over Sarawak - i.e Kuala Lumpur intervening with one of the autonomous states of Malaysia. In the process, Taib has shown himself that he's a wily man and no pushover for Najib. Secondly, as predicted, the number of opposition presence in the state is higher, no thanks to DAP's sweeping almost the urban area spots that they have contested (80% success rate), although I admit that giving them 3 more seats could give them a better chance. Thirdly, it shown that there tag of "fixed deposit" doesn't work anymore, with the walls of divisive politics starting to crumble, if not broken yet.

Obviously the bad thing is that there's still money and threats playing the big part of the wins - since some of the seats contested and won by BN are based on bags of money offered to voters and threats, notably the case of Alfred Jabu's constituency that according to the longhouse chief, they voted because they were told that if Jabu finds that one of them do not support him, they risk losing assistance. Secondly, it clearly demonstrates that voters, particularly in the areas of Malay-Melanau popularity are not keen for change -hence the mindset point that I mentioned above. Third, it clearly shows that PKR's approach towards contesting the areas is inadeaquate, ill-prepared, lack resources and wrong.

Anwar's maverick approaches that I've watched in some speech videos that I've watched can work well in urban areas partly because of the Chinese population there, in whom my friend Aspan said that are people who are realistic and dare to take the risk of what will happen, unlike the other communities there. As the result SUPP, got whacked up badly in the Chinese areas, except for Meluan and Bawang Assan. 

However, Anwar's approach don't work in rural areas mainly because people don't understand well on the scandals, sensational issues and so on, but on B n B. (bread and butter matters). Look in contrast of how Najib goes down to those areas and used subtle approaches and concentrating on the B n B approach. Because the mindsets are in contrast with those urbanites, people might not be able to buy to Anwar's idea of governing a.l.a Penang / Selangor model.

Obviously throughout the show, the credit must go to DAP who have done adequately well in campaigning and winning. Of course the risk from threats posed by BN parties saying that the Chinese would be sidelined do not work on them. The Penang model seems to have impressed urbanites desire of changing things in addition to hating Taib Mahmud. 

I obviously thought that the opposition can go scramble a few more seats by a possible chance of re-election since there are countless of police reports reported over voting irregularities. For the case of Senadin and in Muara Tuang, the fault was lying on the EC's side. In Senadin, the EC official refused to sign the returning form, and hence provides implications of rigging of votes there - with the 58 razor thin margin. In Muara Tuang, the BN candidate came late to submit the nomination papers although nomination time ends at 11 a.m, thus violating own rules. 

In several other places like in Tamin and Layar, voters are subjected to intimidation, where there should be police cases of vote buying. If the EC doesn't act at all, it still doesn't change the perception that EC is BN's unofficial component party and a stooge. Jabu's case clearly mirrors to the same way Tengku Adnan did that in Putrajaya. If you recall how voters in Putrajaya were told of sack threats for voting against BN by Ku Nan personally, then Jabu's one is no different matter. (See also the case of Joseph Muah's vote buying by fraud here as well)

The fault actually lies on the people themselves. The bad news and implication is that  by refusing to change they are willing to enslave themselve for 5 more years, risking more daylight theft of lands, false promises and discrimination, coupled with risk of more increment in cost of living by voting for the wrong party - partly because they have succcumbed to the temptations of not changing things.

PKR in particular have misjudged many things and in this case, perhaps Anwar may want to take a step back personally and let the rest of people help his work out rather than stressing himself out by doing double-duty work as MP and party head. As for PAS, many still think PAS as a Taliban-style party particuarly with Hadi and Nasaruddin running the organization, and as what Husam said recently, there is a need for refresh. 

I still believe that in the battle for which political fronts, neither side wins. - a stale mate Both sides win on several aspects, but BN still have internal squabbles that are never reported in particular out of fear of Home Ministry calling in. In the end, it's the voter mindset that determines the election outcomes.

No Fear: Wading Through BN's Repression

 The rakyat are fearful of the instruments of repression.

The presence of army personnel or police near and around long houses are sufficient to induce pliant behavior.

But let the people of Sarawak be reminded – you have the greatest weapon of all – YOUR VOTE.

You also have the law on your side.

Sarawakians must celebrate the victory of the 640 villagers from Kuala Nyalau and Ulu Nyalau who were awarded RM66.75 million by the Bintulu High Court recently.

The laws can’t be twisted forever by the powerful oligarchy – for that is what the Sarawak government has become.

It’s no longer a party for the people. It’s a party for the elite and the rich.

The people of Kuala Nyalau and Ulu Nyalau are just common people, driven by the desire to correct an injustice.

Sarawakians have only to focus on this mission – to correct the injustices brought upon them by Taib’s government.

They have nothing to lose excerpt a Taib’s brutish rule.

-- Sakmongkol - Rakyat Fearful of Instruments of Repression

I have read several instances which points to how BN politicians use their way of coercing the Sarawakians for votes, in the most common form used - intimidation in speeches. These politicians have been threatening people of withdrawing goodies if the people would vote for the opposition instead of BN. Intimidation is not a new tactic really. The only thing from here is that people do not know that they have the right and the freedom to decide who they want without being threatened by either side of the political divide.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the one case of point above would be testimonies from several civil servants voting in Putrajaya back in 2008. They have revealed how the BN candidate, Tengku Adnan had visited several government departments there and said that their votes are being traced and whoever found to vote for the opposition risk being moved cold storage or sacked. (Note: this was affirmed by the PAS candidate contesting there and it was documented in Malaysia Today, except the archive link was lost to me at time of writing)

Back now then, there were a few instances to that thing that includes:

1. Peter Nyarok, SPDP No 2, said "useless for the Indian to be here, kill him then he knows”, referring to Xavier Jeyakumar, the Selangor Exco member. He was also caught uttering intimidating things about voting quoting from Free Malaysia Today:

Nyarok, feeling the heat of campaign against him, is warning longhouse chiefs that if their ‘anembiaks’ (followers) choose to vote for the opposition, he will use his ministerial power to withdraw minor rural projects promised to the longhouses.

He is suspicious of every one including civil servants, teachers and pensioners if they do not express their open support for him.

Six civil servants have been transferred from Saratok to other parts of Sarawak as a warning to others. He is also threatening pensioners that their pensions will be withdrawn.

“Nyarok never behaved like this in previous elections. The reason is that he has not kept the many promises he made to the people.

“In the 2006 state election he promised a number of projects including road repair projects in Ulu Krian and sent three trucks to deliver the stones and promised to send more if he were to win the election.

“However, after winning the election, he failed to keep his promises. The stones were removed and taken back,” said Bungan.

He also promised to deliver rubber sheet machines, chainsaws and work tools, but at the end of the day the people did not receive anything.

2. MCA's common battle-cry for support is basically calling those who vote for opposition as ungrateful. True, I have a few friends who used to tell me of how party people would chastise people for not being grateful to the party for protecting the Chinese. Question is protecting and representing Chinese against who? 

I really want the name of the reporter from Bernama who wrote this thing because it is basically a right to know as a citizen - I have stated several times the need of the agency to reveal their names of reporters who wrote it, in the light of the Penang state government getting the wrong picture due to wrong writing by that person.

Kong said: 

"A Chinese district officer is unheard of in any other part of the country. Ande nowhere else in Malaysia do you have a Chinese mayor," Kong noted, alluding to the administrative structure where Chinese hold positions not open to them in other states.

"And it is only in Sarawak that you have a Chinese ketua kampung, penghulu, pemancar and Kapitam," Kong said in reference to the community leadership set-up.

They have to understand that should they decide not to give their votes to the Chinese representatives, the other parties in the ruling coalition may use the defeat of SUPP as an excuse to change everything."

Kong said the opposition will not be able to form the next Sarawak state government.

"They may succeed in getting rid of SUPP in some constituencies, but this would only mean diluting Chinese representation in the government," he added. The Chinese make up 20 per cent of the population of Sarawak. SUPP, the Chinese-dominated BN party, is contesting 19 of the 71 seats.

SUPP lost six of the 19 seats it contested in the last election to the DAP, one to PKR and another to a SNAP candidate, who later joined SUPP.

SUPP publicity chief Daniel Ngieng said:"Whether you like it or not, BN is going to form the government after April 16, with or without Chinese representation as the Bumiputras are solidly behind them," he said.

"The Chinese have to vote BN-SUPP for representation in the government. We (SUPP) have shortcomings, but we are changing," he said.

My response? Fuck you.  

Teresa Kok called him a "narrow" - which is what he is.

Today, the bigwigs from MCA have come over, and Chua Soi Lek is singing the same tune as Kong's.

3. Even the Iban longhouse chiefs are too not spared from this kind of scenario. A tuai rumah elected must be pro-BN or else all benefits will be stripped. Quoting from this blog - Broken Shield:

Today, the criteria for Tuai Rumah have changed; he must be educated at least up to Form Three, be pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) and not necessary having deep knowledge of Iban Adat (this he can learn from The Tusun Tunggu, a book containing all the customs, traditions, taboos, fines, etc.).

After being elected, his appointment must be endorsed by the government so that an allowance of RM450 per month can be given to him. His duties include being “eyes and ears” of the BN government, a judge, a law enforcer, tax collector, consultant, and chairman of JKKK (Village Security and Development Committee) through which government funds are being channeled.

During election times, he is much wanted by the BN parties. This has become very pronounced in the 2006 State and 2008 parliamentary elections.

As concluded - But the worst effect is that the system will create a government full of corrupted and dishonest elected representatives as well as inculcating into the people or voters a culture of corruption and a dishonest syndrome where money determines the election.

It is very comforting to listen to what Sak was saying above because the decision of voting is no one but yourself and the very assuring thing is that no one is actually intimidating you to vote for that person or not. The whole thing is a bluff, like playing poker in casinos. You can actually snub the hand that feeds you if the hand is not proven to help you a lot and if you think you need change after so many years sticking to the same old person, then you are welcome to do so. The choices are spread out on the table -  in front of us. 

We can actually wade through BN's tools and methods of repression. 

This has become a dilemma. How can we get out of it really?

Ok, the first thing is just to be who you really are by yourself and choose wisely as you are in control of deciding whether suffer another 5 more years under the same party that robs and cheats you all or go for something that will put back things properly like in Penang and Selangor. No one demands you on this.

Sometimes you have to do something a little evil, being the little devil, all for a better good.

An eye for an eye perhaps? 

Remember how Berita Harian got embarassed over the Ultraman cartoon? 

Remember how Rosmah was quoted that Japan was negligent over the nuclear plants - A statement that is considered an insult to the morals of the Japanese?

How both things ended up on international press that in turn makes Malaysia a laughing stock online? They are both shown on CNN's iReport. The point here is to tell to the international press about the truths. With video and audio testimony from witnesses, you have solid proof of voter intimidation. Of course since CNN is being watched worldwide, it will attract mass attention.

I know that some people and politicians would describe this as badmouthing the country, but sometimes you have to do that for a better good if our own institutions is unwilling to buckle up or do nothing even being promising people of fixing things.

That's number 2.

The third thing is doing the opposite of silence presumes consent. If we are quiet don't do anything, then bad would triumph over evil - Edmund Burke's famous saying. It's worth of holding the fact that there are justice loving-people that will help out if things go south.

As I have mentioned in my recent Robin Hood post: you can be any of  Robin Hood's merry men and take on the quest to rid corruption and tyranny on Sarawak that is Nottingham - your adventure in the making that you should seize the advantage. This time, there is no more - "Another 5 years then change" thing. By that time, it will be already too late, never to go back and take what would be lost.

The New Robin Hood Playground: Sarawak!

I have read many exposes of the corruption and mismanagement under the Taib Mahmud administration in Sarawak, that Sarawak Report has prominently spoke of. Someone called Taib as somewhat "immune" or in Malay "kebal" meaning that no one, not even the MACC nor even Najib is able to touch Taib Mahmud mainly because he amasses more money that could even match the amount of reserves available in Malaysia alone.

I find this state elections very interesting though it brings back memories of the 2008 election campaign though not as big as it is right now. It also allows to test the change effect that will happen with the main factor being the "Hate Taib" factor. After all, people have pointed Taib in many parallels to the deposed Hosni Mubarak, with two things in common: both men have been running the state for 30 years and have amassed a huge fortune that gets stashed in other places including the Swiss bank. The "Hate Pak Lah" factor was the main reason why PR won unprecedentedly that year, and denied Barisan Nasional 2/3rds.

It has become public knowledge that Taib used bomohs (read black magic) as a part of the play dirty way to win elections. Even one of his relatives, Salleh Jafaruddin have started to make noise the moment the blonde bomoh, which was brought in by Raziah Mahmud to her brother Taib makes the appearance last night. This too, not only does seen in Taib's circle, but in Alfred Jabu's. Whenever a PR ceramah that happens in Jabu's territory, the police was hell bent on stopping ceramahs there. It gives a tell-tale sign that they were acting under Jabu's directive - a baruah, shall I say.

No, that's not the main point I would want to say. I came to notice, that as we've gone into the second day of campaigning in Sarawak, it has already started to become the playground that harks to the days of the legend of Robin Hood and Nottingham. In Sarawak, it is very similar to the legend, where the people of Sarawak must undertake the quest to free the country from the tyranny of despots. In this case, Taib Mahmud was very similar to King John himself. And as the story goes like John, Taib would robbed the natives land rights, people's wealth, and give it to the rich barons allied to him and in the process, people were poor and the state never prospered where people would reap its rewards. Not at all.

A conventional main villain always has its number twos and Taib always has his deputies - George Chan, also one of his brother-in-laws, and Alfred Jabu whom is very similar in role, capacity like the Sheriff of Nottingham. Any child or those who remembered stories and tales would know that the Sheriff would do the dirty work, going out with crew under him to harass the poor people, rob the riches and whack people who do not conform to their definition of norms.

George Chan and SUPP recently said the Chinese that they would lose representation if Pakatan Rakyat were voted into power. DAP there's it down, saying it is equivalent to harassment. Don't you notice that George Chan is like the Sheriff? Like MCA, SUPP are playing second fiddle behind PBB, which means if SUPP gets whacked out all together (29 seats) - there will be no 2/3rd majority that Taib wants. DAP is right on one thing - SUPP is selling out the Chinese as it was reported here.

And this of course leaves to the Sarawakians that they can play stock characters from the protagonist faction. People can play Robin Hood, Little John or the other merry men, Christians, recently muddled in the Al-Kitab bible crisis with the federal government can play as Friar Tuck if required, while the ladies can play as Marion. But as the story goes, the struggle to win the fight against King John's army and the bandits cannot be done alone - it must be done in the unified fashion, and in this case - a 60 seat win for PR would be very much convincing, and overwhelmingly send a message to Najib and Co that 54 years of BN is enough already, and at the same time Taib could end up the same fate as Hosni Mubarak. Again, it only happens if people are not swayed by BN's words and temptations (some might mirror it as the Devil's temptation).

The Magna Carta signing in 1215 is very unique as it is a starting point of a charter and it also points out that the role of king is not absolute like an Egyptian Pharoah. It is only through the struggle of Robin Hood, as the story says that the Magna Carta was finally forced on John to sign it, explicitly saying that no man can be punished by other means except by the law of the land.

If you see from top to down, it is very same. The only problem is there are people who are not willing to listen and would want to keep it again and again. No, the conventions have changed, that kind of mentality must be stopped and shed. I have observed how the campaigning is going on the first two days and PR's campaign was very similar as to Robin Hood leading citizens. It is also agreed and noted that PR is very hard in debunking such claims that BN would say here and as to answer the claim that "Opposition has no track record" the answer is clear: they can't show the record because they were never put into office for once and remained in opposition. If you want to see it, you have to put them to judge it!

Oh, it's going to be a Robin Hood style play right now in Sarawak!

Not Yet March 8 2011 And There's Another By-Election Looming!

PETALING JAYA: The nation will see yet another by-election, the 16th, with the death of Umno’s Kerdau elected representative Zaharuddin Abu Kassim this evening.

It is learnt that Zaharuddin, 63, died after suffering from a fall in his washroom at about 6.30pm.

His death was confirmed by Temerloh’s deputy police chief Supt Zundin Mahmood.

The politician was reported to be serious last year when he was admitted at the Nation Heart Institute (IJN) in a critical condition over kidney and heart complications.

He however recovered sufficiently and got married to Rozlifah Ahmad, 33, late last year.

The country had just witnessed a by-election in Tenang, Johor – a state seat which was retained by Barisan Nasional/Umno.

There will be another by-election in Merlimau, Malacca on March 6 following the death of the state rep, also from Umno.

The Kerdau by-election will be the first in Pahang, the homestate of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

*****************************

The above is a news flash from Free Malaysia Today.

I suppose there should be a rule calling that all assemblymen cannot die without consent of Bik Mama. Maybe this is because of the number of unprecedented by-elections that is happening before we hit 3 years after March 8 2008.

According to the 2008 statistics, the bulk of the 6000 plus voters are Malays (89%). Kerdau is in the Temerloh constituency and it is in the upper part, heading towards Kuala Krau. Ideally, a PAS candidate can be there or if there is PKR man who is famous in that part of town, then they should put that fellow there.

I wonder how much money that Barisan Nasional has splashed in all the by-elections so far. Not even the recent by-elections can surpass the astronomical amount of goodies and campaign money (actually can be used for subsidy money instead of for the wrong ends).

The big question is how can we educate voters on not to be afraid of bogeyman tactics and used their heads properly without thinking of such defeatist mentalities like (follow the leader, all is fate, etc..?)

The UMNO Boogeyman Games in Tenang Has Begun!

According to Harakah, there are leaflets, indirectly pointing to UMNO that has been circulating around the town of Tenang, ahead of the nomination on 22 January that obviously contains the cliche elements of fear at the voters. The leaflets, obviously said that DAP is anti-Islam will ban azans, PAS politics are bad and so forth. The circulation of these leaflets obviously would start at first at FELDA areas in that district because FELDA forms part of the 42 percentage of total voters in Tenang.

Unfortunately, I could not find an English version of this piece, so I would provide you an excerpt here, the rest is from the Harakah Malay version link.

Risalah tidak bertuan yang mula tersebar di Dewan Undangan Negeri (Dun) Tenang bertujuan mempengaruhi pengundi Melayu, dakwa Ketua Pemuda PAS Johor, Khairul Faizi Ahmad Kamil.


Beliau berkata, pihaknya ada melihat risalah berbentuk buku kecil bertajuk DAP anti-Islam dan 'Khawarij dan Politik PAS' itu namun belum terserempak dengan individu yang melakukan penyebaran itu.

"Sekarang ini dah mula banyak risalah tidak bertuan mula disebarkan di Felda dan nampaknya risalah tu lebih kepada nak mempengaruhi pengundi Melayu.

"Banyak risalah yang kita jumpa telah diedarkan yang ditinggalkan di kedai-kedai makan, bukan sedang diedarkan. Jadi kita tidak boleh tuduh sesiapa sebab tak ada nama," katanya ketika dihubungi Harakahdaily hari ini.

Menurut beliau, yang merupakan Pengarah Keselamatan Pemuda PAS negeri, pihaknya tidak akan teragak-agak membawa perkara itu kepada pihak polis sekiranya menjumpai individu yang melakukan perbuatan itu.

"Kita minta unit keselamatan pemuda, sekiranya menjumpai risalah yang disebarkan, kita ambil dan buang.

"Kalau kita jumpa mana-mana pihak yang menyebar risalah ini kita tidak akan teragak-agak untuk bawa mereka kepada pihak polis kerana risalah ini lebih kepada menyampaikan fitnah kepada masyarakat," katanya.

Ujarnya, kemunculan risalah-risalah fitnah ini lebih wajar diberi perhatian berbanding menuduh PAS mula turun berkempen.

"Dalam media Umno BN tuduh PAS mula berkempen. Memang kita turun tapi atas nama parti ataupun organisasi seperti melancarkan jentera pilihan raya dan sebagainya. Itu perkara biasa.

"Tapi ada pihak yang turun tanpa menamakan diri mereka siapa dan mengedarkan risalah. Ini satu kempen yang tidak sihat," katanya.

Sebelum ini, sebuah portal berita melaporkan Pengerusi Majlis Pimpinan Negeri PKR Johor, Datuk Chua Jui Meng mendedahkan penyebaran risalah fitnah ini di sekitar Dun Tenang.

Risalah DAP anti Islam mengandungi nota yang bertulis DAP akan mengharamkan azan, majlis maulidur rasul dan sebagainya jika Pakatan Rakyat memerintah.

The police has no doubt, unknowingly and indirectly has played their part of the boogeyman game by stopping various public speeches by Anwar and PR. Sure, whenever Anwar starts to talk, the police would come in. Of course, these people had to obey orders from the superiors otherwise, they would find themselves in disciplinary investigations and punishments for insubordination. My gut feeling is that whoever the superior that handles this matter is surely taking orders from a big man who is carrying the party membership card - hand me down order that is and the saying that Anwar is too hot to handle in Tenang. FELDA communities there are very interested to hear what Anwar and PR would say because of ANAK, standing for the FELDA community rights. According to Malaysiakini, FELDA Cempelak drew about 3000 people but many got blocked by the police.

UMNO screams at Malay politicians from opposition parties for not propagating the Ketuanan Melayu concept. They call those people traitors to the Malay race, traitors to the Nation, etc. All those calling names are always the second step that they would use to scare the normal Malay citizens of the danger of losing Malay rights and so forth. But the term Malay rights never existed in Article 153! They are hoping that many, who do not have the knowledge of the Federal constitution would panic over such fear-mongering. If a politician says that, then:

a)  either the man doesn't bother to read the Federal Constitution - a LAZY thinker. OR

b)  if the man knows but says that, then he / she is trying to lie to everyone. Menipu Melayu that is.

In fact you can go out and buy a book, English or Malay version and read it for yourselves to see what they claim is true or not. Sure, every bookstore from MPH sells that at an affordable price. No way it can be too expensive for one...And of course those who would say that are those deservedly called by Singapore (in the Wikileaks thing) as incompetent politicians and people who are bankrupt of ideas.

No need for me to repeat this and I must compliment RPK for releasing a new style of presenting the audience in his No Holds Barred column: podcast. Interestingly, the podcast is in Malay and it would be nice if people get their hands on the recording and listen in plain Malay for the sake of the majority of the audience and for those who have problems in understanding English of course.

I for one for once a while would encourage people to do a little searching around the net, since broadband penetration in Malaysia has hit more than 50 percent. What people can do is to look for not politician videos, but civil society videos, e.g Hishamuddin Rais videos that do speak similar subjects in that but in Malay as to get the idea.

BERSIH 2.0 Launch

Bersih 2.0 was launched yesterday and I happened to hear what PAS' Dr. Dzulkefly said that of 1.0 transitioning to 2.0 is like being from a opposition party face to a more civil society, NGO face type. And during that launch, the chairperson, Ambiga said that most proposals are welcomed by the EC, with objections to automatic voting, indelible ink and the right to vote reduced to 18 years old.

Of course, in order to get more people to vote (as we're reminded of the alarming 4.2 million unregistered but eligible voters) the UUCA amendment that Mahathir pushed for will have to be reversed. AUKU (as in Malay) will have to be taken off. But of course Mahathir would definitely objected to it because, as his remarks said that a person in a uni should concentrate more on studies instead of politicking! And it seems things have backfired to for him for his perception might not work any longer.

There were a few MPs from the opposition there and most of those who were there were civil society activists and so forth. The crowd was estimated to be around 1000 as one online news portal said about. There were a few shows including a stand-up show that my friend Hisham Rais put up, coupled with speeches from few people about elections, and how dirty postal votes can be so forth though.

I won't elaborate much except to get you guys to read the supplement news item from Free Malaysia Today

Didn't I Say This Would Happen?

LUKUT: Workers at Siliau Estate, near here, are angry with the Barisan Nasional for being fork-tongued in its pledges. During the Bagan Pinang by-election last year, the BN government had promised to build as many as 150 low-cost houses under its Hardcore Poor Development Project (PPRT). The houses were to be sold to the estate workers.

But less than a year later, BN went back on its word saying that it had never promised to sell them the PPRT houses but merely pledged to rent them to the workers.

During a recent visit to the estate, FMT discovered that few, if any, knew that the PPRT houses were not for sale.

Said K Chandra, 42, a palm oil harvester: “I don’t know anything about this. They did not tell us that the houses were for us to rent. They told us we could buy them.”

Chandran, however, did not seem surprised at BN’s about-turn on the election promise.

“I am not shocked or upset. We all heard BN promise to sell us the houses. If it does not fulfil its promise, our votes won’t go to BN anymore,” he said.

He said there were now 30 families in the estate. The rest had left and were working outside.

"But we are still close and keep in touch with each another. So it's not easy to break the Siliau estate population for political purposes," he smiles.

He also said the estate people were not staunch BN supporters and had only given BN a chance in the by-election to see if it would keep its promises.

“If BN fails to fulfil its promise, more than 400 voters will turn to Pakatan Rakyat,” he said, adding that most of the estate workers had sent their applications and documents to buy the PPRT houses by the end of this February.

“We filled up the forms and attached the necessary documents. The MIC branch chairman himself collected the forms from us,” said Chandran.

Unfair deal

Another harvester, C Puspavalli, said it was not right that the BN “change its words” now that it had won the by-election.

“I am very disappointed because once the BN said it wants to sell the houses to us, now it wants us to rent. This is not fair at all.

"During the Bagan Pinang by-election, MIC promised that the houses would be sold to us.

“After the BN won the election, the local MIC chief met us and gave us several forms to fill so that we could buy the house.

“But he did not collect back the forms although he stayed only two rows in front of my house," she said.

A mistake

MIC secretary-general and state MIC leader T Rajagopalu could not be reached for comment.

However, Negri Sembilan exco member and MIC's elected representaive VS Mohan, when contacted, said the Housing and Local Government Ministry made a mistake in announcing that the houses were not for sale.

"We have already informed the ministry and brought the matter up to Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan.

“There was a mistake… normally PPRT houses are only for rent and not for sale but the Ladang Silau PPRT project is an exception, which the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin himself had announced.

“So, I feel the estate workers need not worry or be concerned about the matter,” he said, adding that he will meet the estate workers soon to explain the situation. - Free Malaysia Today, 22 July 2010

I kept this article from FMT for a week or so which described about the grouses by the Indians in the Silau estate. This was way back during the campaign period in Bagan Pinang. At least I enjoyed four great days in Port Dickson, meeting with some people and seeing the election fever.

On the evening of the count, I was a with people taking down the tallies on the areas that formed this state seat. I came to notice that almost all votes in Silau goes to BN. And interestingly, not many people in that estate go out and vote there as well!

I noticed that this trend was repeated in Hulu Selangor. I once cautioned that the kingmakers of the both elections are not Malays but the non-Malays themselves. But what both have in common in both by-elections is that they fell sway to promises. And a few months later, when all settles down to dust, they still get nothing from what was promised.

In a way, I think this is tantamount to giving ang pows during last minute and like one of my friends said, if the Malays think of the past a.k.a overdraft, Indians think of present times, a.k.a Hindraf, while the Chinese think of the future, a.k.a bank draft. Isn't this more or less of felt being cheated in various ways?

Didn't I say and warn that this would happen if we simply sway to promises by our rulers who have done nothing much significant in the past?

Right now, the problem is of still showing support to the present leaders who have not done much contribution to the people's benefit but still afraid of being cheated. Read this letter from Malaysiakini that mirrors my opinon there.

Zaid Vs Gerombolan

I can't say but to think and imagine that Zaid is fighting at three fronts but two belong to the same wing that is the mob called United Malays National Organization. Of course, Utusan is likely to be the one that gets hit the most out of the two simply because the reporter who wrote that story is likely to be the cause of the blame of the entire newspaper organ.

I don't really have sure thing that Zaid, if the suit is filed and proceed through courts will win against Election commission since they will definitely turn a blind eye on it. Of course if the MACC, picking the cue from Zaid that wishes to look into it, as the new boss said, yes please go ahead with all the testimonies and police reports that are shown right in front.

I did have a thought of some people in the EC being politically affiliated but if such thing happens, it could be a reason why BN would win since there is a probability that there are some staff that could give insider information to BN to plan out against PR in their campaigns, meaning unfair advantage of course. It's better to be wrong I guess.

I really wonder how good will that idea of exposing UMNO's hypocrite members. The more important thing that Zaid should consider is the people including the Pak Cik and Mak Cik Felda - those in the heartland would get the actual info, not being fed with Utusan bullshit and get cheated subsequently. But I hope to see that there will be more slugging out fights between two fronts. It will be indeed something worth watching.

Somehow, the Getting to know Leaders thing should have been done earlier. In addition, PR should be stopping the whack the bag at UMNO and instead should now consider how to top present policies with better solutions, and it should make sense with common people to understand and get the idea of doing so.

How I Start Loving Being A Voter And You Should Too

I was only six when the 8th General Election happened. So that morning, I followed them up to the second floor, but stayed outside to see how they cast their votes. It was a first time, seeing it live of how election day happened. Then in 1995, election mania came again. Even young, I was so interested to see how people go and vote, since it is a 5 year affair thing. At night, I was also watching TV, interested to see who's winning, who's leading, etc..

I was really smitten how a person gets to go and put the ballot card in the box. I could really wish of doing that earlier in 2004, but then I was only 20 and fell short of the minimum age required. I soon understood that it is the enthusiasm of voting that I start loving the idea of playing the role of a voter.

By November 2005, I finished my internship and was looking for my next job. I was back at home, just graduated. A week after I hit the age of 21, I decided I ain't going to wait until there is a registration exercise to come to do so. After lunch time, I went straight to the state EC office (it's opposite the state government building), told a staff there that I just hit 21 and I want to register. It's just merely presenting your IC card and check a few days later on its status is all it takes to become a voter.

And so I became one. And I didn't wait for 5 years for the next GE to come. If not, it could have been around this time. I was certain at that time, given of the area where I would be I knew that it would be Lim Kit Siang vs somebody from the BN.

From the info I gather about these two men contesting, I noticed a difference between a decent MP vs a longkang MP. So excited that as the days go by prior to the 8th, I really have made up my mind on who to vote.

And that day there's went my first time to vote, and at the age of just 23+!

Yes, I sometimes think this as cheong hei and out of point but hey, the stats was saying that there are 4 million unregistered but eligible, and mostly are those within the group of 21-40.

I used to think of the phrase, "There is no fate but what we make for ourselves".

There are about 4 million eligible but unregistered voters, majority within my age group and I believe that most of them have no idea that they can do the vote. Some of them think that they are lazy to vote or some of them think that there is no obligation to dd that or so.

Wrong. If you think that you don't have to vote, think again. If the 4 million voted in the GE, the results and outcome could be different. What if there is no 1Malaysia when the result got changed the other way round? What if there is no Perak crisis if the results got changed?

Current problems in Malaysia is our fault. We didn't do enough to change it.

That's why there are these voter registration drives to help you guys fulfill your obligation.

Voting is an obligation. For me, it's enthusiasm.

I don't really know much about this EPIC thing but I know that a 23 year old person around my group age started this. Perhaps he / she has the same enthusiasm as I do, but maybe I can lend a help out there by putting what they need below.

Anyhow, just to note, this weekend is their registration drive in 3 locations - The Curve, Amcorp Mall and Subang Parade, so if you have never voted before, just go to one place and sign up. Who knows, maybe a GE could be called in the next 3 years or so and you will have your chance.

Read on below...

*****************

The decisions we make today shape our tomorrow, individually as a community, and ultimately as a nation. That is why we are beginning another EPIC movement we call EPIC for Unity.

This is where we want the people to start having faith & hope in this nation that we call HOME and love dearly. It is understandable that it has indeed been challenging to develop such positive feelings toward a nation that displays such a blatant disregard for ethics and the rapid decay of moral values in our community. We understand that we are disillusioned and feelings of helplessness have inhabited our minds and wills, causing us to stop striving for what we youths want.

_________________________________________________________________________

We want to believe that the power of ‘one’ is not simply overrated, just rarely challenged
We want Positive Action not Negative Reactions
We want to integrate not tolerate
We want to stop complaining, and start acting
We want our friends to stop migrating overseas and our parents to stop telling us to do so
We want to be colour blind to our neighbours
We want to stand up to be responsible for our collective future and believe that others want to as well

_________________________________________________________________________

We want all this but what are you willing to do to get it?

We want to voice our choice the best and most civil way we know how in practicing our democratic right…
By Voting

However before that happens, you first have to register as a voter… Have you? If you have, GOOD ON YA! If not, don’t feel bad, because the time is now.
We are on an EPIC Mission to gather

2,000,000 voters

by the end of the year. Yes, we said it! TWO MILLION! We believe that we will definitely hit and even exceed this number if you join us on this EPIC adventure to truly impact our community in an extraordinary way.

We will be launching our year-long campaign which we believe belongs to all of us on the 3rd and 4th of April. The launch will start of by setting up booths in high traffic malls which will be confirmed ASAP.

We will need at least 150 hands in promoting, registering,
setting up booths and pasting up posters.

We are targeting 20,000 people for the 2 day launch.

One Step Backwards For Nazri

EC Should Look Into Automatic Registration Says Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today that the Election Commission (EC) should seriously consider looking into an automatic voter registration system.

His remarks come despite the fact that the government announced this morning in Parliament that it had no plans to introduce an automatic voter registration system.

“I’ve always been keen, pro-auto registration. The EC should look into this. Of course it will take some time and effort, but I feel that this is necessary,” he told The Malaysian Insider in Parliament.

Khairy, who is also Rembau MP, asserted that the issue here was how to find ways to make voting easier for future voters.

He said that he did not quite agree with the government’s stand on the matter, and would discuss it with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak soon.

“The issue here is not whether they (voters) should be registering or not. Their choice should be whether they want to vote, or otherwise,” he added.

Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the government would continue with the existing procedures and policies and would not force the people to exercise their rights. - The Malaysian Insider , 18 March

***********

Actually, Nazri Aziz didn't really look further into automating the registration process. As the EC Chairman said, part of the reason would be on cost-saving. And on the voters side, it is meant to eliminate the hassle to go to the post office or any state EC office to register.

In a week after I hit 21 in November 2005, I immediately went to the EC office in Ipoh and told the staff on duty that I duly wished to register as a voter. That is at that time, I have plenty of time and still clearly remembered what to do when hitting 21.

Let's say you are busy with other things, maybe your studies and you just hit 21. After a while, you might not remember your right to vote because you are too busy in doing other commitments. The more things you are doing in succession, you will end up forgetting.

The 4 million plus unregistered but eligible people to vote is worrying for the EC and what Khairy said about automating registration makes it easier since the EC voter's database can link up with the National Registry Database and can do register itself. It's not to say undemocratic, but it solves problems by killing birds in one stone.

Why are you moving backwards, Nazri? Are you not aware of this or is this for political mileage?

Make The Wrong Choice In Bagan Pinang And...

Now I get the idea why Hisham Rais calls UMNO and BN as the MOB. Gerombolan this, gerombolan that. They are not willing to risk losing and making it 8-0 this time round. In fact, they have conceded too many goals and they are falling back to moving goal posts, bribe the referee, and so on. In fact this thing makes worst compared to the Arnold Rothstein rigging of the 1919 World Series.

Before you go on you might want to read some Hishamuddin Rais pieces - some make sense, though I don't really agree with his entire philosophy. Everytime UMNO is mentioned, the word MOB is used.

You look at how a PAS worker guy get beaten up and slash by the mob by people on motorbike, which is to say that they are no other than Nazis: if you don't like one race, you whack them. Though it has a different context, the similarities are there. Ketuanan Melayu is very similar to the Aryan Supremacy that Mein Kampf dictates.

In the middle of the main road of Jalan Pantai, the mob stopped and whack cars that carry the PAS flag. For what? Every people has the right of opinion. To force and shove your ideas to their throats means to say is to shut up and listen. In fact, listening without curiosity means to make fool of a person. Who's the more foolish? The fool himself or the fool that follows the fool?

I always thought of a leader who is unable to control the behavior is akin to the times during the pre-Three Kingdoms thing. At that time, court eunuchs in China are actually in control, not the Emperor. To attempt to stop eunuchs invites being beaten and whack for interfering. Likewise, in Jerusalem, the boy king Baldwin V - ended up succeeding his uncle, the leper king, could not control the state because of his age and affairs handled by others below him.

Now that you have seen how barbaric they behave, they are entitled to be called a four-legged person, not a two-legged. An animal more or less. I don't really have to repeat everything to say this and that. I leave it up to you readers, particularly those who are in Bagan Pinang to decide what to do next on Sunday. If you are going to the poll station, think twice before putting a cross on the ballot paper.

As I am entitled to my opinion, you can't simply pick by party. There are more than what it seems before choosing your things. Right now, the malpractices have been exposed by the PAS and its partners. So now you know, you will need to make a choice. Make the wrong choice and you will regret it for picking the wrong side. Blind faith to a party will not take you far.

I am told by my blogger friend that the Indian community, being the kingmakers of this part of Negeri Sembilan are really undecided on who to pick because there are Indian factions supporting Barisan while others supporting the Pakatan. Let make this in simpler terms to our Indian friends and fellow older generation voters out there:

• Make the wrong choice, and you see more district resources plundered unnecessarily.
• Make the wrong choice and you indirectly support a corrupt person.
• Make the wrong choice and you support a barbaric act that detains person without proof.
• Make the wrong choice and you invite more menaces to roam around your town.
• Make the wrong choice and you are given empty promises in the end.
• Make the wrong choice and you are saying thumbs up to someone that advocates helping one race but not the other.

It's your call. You decide.

Court Declares Nizar As Legit MB, But It's Not Over Yet.

1. For the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, today's landmark verdict delivered by the KL High Court that Nizar Jamaluddin as the legitimate Menteri Besar shows that the judiciary independence and rule of law is going to be restored, with this as the stepping stone. This was then followed a directive by court to Zambry and the six to vacate office immediately (see this Malaysiakini piece, which includes remarks from Anwar and Bar Council, excluded from The Star)

2. But I will not count on that. There is warning though that whatever happens is not out of the blue yet. The latest setback for the Barisan Nasional regime in Perak will not deter them, as they will use a variety of tools to maintain their hegemony of power in Perak that they acquired via illegal means.

3. Of course, with the main reasoning behind the judgement delevered by the judge, which is stating that a Menteri Besar can only be removed via a vote of confidence or resigned by his own accord, Barisan, via it's illegally appointed speaker Ganesan and the deputy 'prositute' Hee, will call for an emergency assembly, Zambry and Hamidah Osman (Sungai Rapat) will propose for the motion to remove Nizar via the vote of no confidence thing. Hamidah's remark "why should the state assembly be dissolved" has shown her immaturity which resulted of her being critcized by all quarters over a racial remark last year.

4. Nizar also stated that whatever happened during the four month period of Zambry will be subjected to review. Therefore, the so-called gathering at the tree on March 3 is considered legit, and the motions that were passed during that were taken into account, meaning that - Zambry and six excos are suspended from 12 to 18 months; Sivakumar is the legit speaker as of now, and of course Nizar as the legit Menteri Besar. And finally, last thursday's assembly, called via illegal means, rushed without proper procedure and protocol is deemed unaccounted and illegal.

5. Of course, the fear of losing and the unwillingness to spend a lot of money ever after the five by-elections show that how Barisan Nasional is unwilling to play at the election arena. At the beginning, Najib has mentioned via the media of the interest of Barisan to collaborate with Pakatan Rakyat to break the deadlock of the state constituition crisis.

6. A few hours after the court verdict, Najib has announced that the government will appeal against the court decision. I believe this is a stark contrast to what he said earlier of offering a join collaboration with mutual interest to solve the constituition crisis. It is likely that the decision was swayed by Big Mama. Apparently, what was gained on Thursday was screwed due to the court decision. Remember that there are some of us who do know how indecisive Najib can be and sometimes asked Rosmah for help (hence the moniker Isteri Rosmah called by Hisham Rais).

7. If the playing field that is Perak is level, Sultan Azlan will definitely say aye to the dissolution of the assembly and calling for the snap polls. As mentioned again and again BN is not willing due to money. The current public sentiment shows that if played, BN risks losing worse than the 12th General Election. The results could go as big as 45 to 14, of the 59 state seats contested in Perak.

8. Therefore, Nizar must act swiftly and the PR must act tactically, rather than facing via brute force against Barisan Nasional. They must be aware that nationally, they do not have enough resources to fight head to head. There is not much time, but as much as 14 hours to do so before anything from BN could happen. Time is ticking. Nizar will be meeting Raja Nazrin tomorrow morning while the BN files appeal against the court, and the unofficial deadline is tomorrow noon.

9. We could see repercussions from Barisan Nasional , unhappy over the verdict. Consider if we forget about the appeal factor, we could see ridiculous things like the judge being transferred (as a DPP for Raja Petra's sedition trial being transferred to Industrial Court by a furious Gani Patail because of the knowledge of insufficient evidence to convict him). That's an example, but the biggest of all repercussions is another May 13...or follow the father's recipe.

10. I always believe that Sultan Azlan would definitely consent and get it right to having snap poll, for this case as to fulfill the wishes of the people in the state. However, I find it hard to believe that His Highness would grant so, given of how he was persistently reminded and threatened by BN.

Seems now that all is not well for Big Mama as of now :D

King's Consent Of Najib As PM? Maybe, Maybe Not!

The suspense is coming!

In less than 24 hours, Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak will head to the King's palace where Abdullah seek the King's consent for him to resign and hand the reigns of power to Najib as the next PM. With many expecting this to be a simple and easy transition, that is why many invitations were sent out to MPs and Ministers inviting them to go to the palace on Friday morning for the swearing in. But that invitation was premature, and note that the invitation was not issued by the palace, but it had the government's insignia on it. Which means, the King's consent isn't available yet but there are people parading their asses out on the road as if Najib is officially acknowledged as the PM.

But the suspense on this episode is on whether the Agong will 'perkenan' and accept Abdullah's resignation and then consenting Najib as the next PM or otherwise.

For me, it's not the "I hope" answer but the thing is Najib might not be PM because Agong is likely to say 'beta tak perkenan'.

Remember the Constitution

Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution provides that the Yang di Pertuan Agong shall appoint a Prime Minister “who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence” of the Dewan Rakyat.

Remember that the Agong cannot be forced to act on the PM's orders, but can do so on the PM's advice. There is no mention that the UMNO president must be PM! Hey, even a gardener in the Parliament can be appointed PM, or any MP or maybe another fellow royalty - there is no mentioning of UMNO man must be PM!?

I've been told that Abdullah has briefed his Majesty of the role that he is entitled to do so and it will be up to to his Majesty's discretion on saying yes to Najib as PM or otherwise. Who knows that Abdullah could have been cautioning the King on Najib earlier on so that thing earlier on could be taken into consideration before the decision is taken. Given that the current Agong is well educated and born post Merdeka, there's hope that his Majesty would make a well thought out decision.

Also, refer back to the phrase 'confidence of the Dewan Rakyat'. To become PM, the man must have at the confidence of 2/3rds of MPs in Parliament. I've also been told yesterday that the level of confidence of Dewan Rakyat for Najib as PM is only at the meager 18%. 182 of 222 MPs, including Abdullah himself and Pakatan MPs are not in favor / not confident of Najib as PM, which means trouble.

Given of the camps fighting one another at the UMNO assembly, the big part half of the 182 MPs comes from splintered camps who are now behind Abdullah given the allegedment that Muhyiddin won against Mike Tyson via vote manipulation.

You Need an Impeccable Leader

To the eyes of the world, a leader of a nation must be impeccable. But then Najib is not impeccable for through international media the world knows that Najib is still linked and connected to the Altantuya murder. The case, could be taken to the World Court in The Hague and the King sees this scenario of a leader connected to a unsolved murder as doesn't bode well for the nation.

Remember that he hasn't officially say his word until tomorrow at least. From what I've been told, it is possible that king could call for a Royal Commission to investigate and clear Najib of any wrongdoing - which is the best measure a ruler could do. But the time taken, if a Royal commission takes place would take about six months from start. If that is the case, the six months from that day on can be considered as a care-taking period. The King may ask Abdullah Badawi to continue for a further six months until investigations on Najib are completed and him being cleared properly.

If you appoint a leader who is believed to be involved with a murder, of course he / she is inviting unhappy people to pelt them everywhere as what happened to Karpal Singh on Sunday!

There are some people who do know how Najib engineered the BN's illegal takeover in Perak, via blackmailing a fellow royal member as in Sultan Azlan Shah. That could be seen as the King as somewhat an insult to royalty. Then who is the real penderhaka? Or..during the opening of the second Parliament session last month, I was told the speech read by the Agong was prepared not by himself but by quarters close to Najib, that's if I am right, but at that time, His Majesty might have to play low but the end thing is that the King, given of all the events linking to Najib isn't confident / happy of consenting him as PM.

Who Else?

Should the King says 'Beta tidak perkenan', he would be picking someone else. Let's say if Abdullah Badawi politely tells the King that he doesn't want to continue, he could be picking Ku Li, or even Anwar Ibrahim as PM or someone else. It's his choosing and the King is not going to be happy if MPs start behaving like Idris Jusoh's bunch of yahoos in KT, calling the King as animal.

Hey...if Ku Li or Anwar is chosen, UMNO is screaming to them as traitor to the Malays given of their outspoken nature of criticizing their own race.. If the Agong happened to say that Koh Tsu Koon as PM, UMNO will make noise...ai yo yo..Chinese as PM? Get real..anyone can be PM as long as he has the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat, remember?

Eyes Wide Open

The UMNO Youth and Women Wings are occupied by Abdullah's underlings, including his son-in-law Khairy. That is more or less a check measure on Najib's men given that most of them occupy VPs, DPs, and Supreme Council member seats.

The Last Word

Just wait until tomorrow, the suspense is still there. Who knows, divine intervention could happen tomorrow. Let's find out together tomorrow, shall we?

Ready To Rock Guys?

After coming back from dinner, I spotted a post by Zorro, which did tell the Bloggers Network team that you, Pete, and the gang are coming over late tomorrow afternoon.

Well, the thing is they are ready waiting for you guys to come over.

While having dinner, Dugong Darat told me that the broadband line in Taiping is not as good as many expected and the phone lines in Simpang are being "hogged" by the police beat base. I was told by our brother that the beat base alone uses about 50 lines throughout this 10 days of campaign. And the TM engineers are working overtime to fix the phone line connections here. But it's said that still it's better in Simpang.

While also travelling, the beat bases for the "gerombolan" UMNO BN are not really active, perhaps maybe to wait until from nomination day onwards. But someone told me that it could be due to the fact that many of the root members of Barisan Nasional are unhappy over the results between Muhyiddin and Mike Tyson.

Well then guys, ready to rock? Just have fun there.

Speaking of which, I just had a round of drinks with Chegubard and his men.....!

It's Clearly Najib, Muhyiddin and Khir.

You got one Melaka CM by the name of Ali Rustam that famously said in 2007 that UMNO doesn't need other BN partners to lead Malaysia. You have heard of him complaining of pigs in Melaka and then for those of you who called him a racist, you're in luck as you know today, he was barred from competing as Number 2 in UMNO.

If you have been observing the political scenario lately, it is clearly of a squabble between two camps that is camp Abdullah and camp Najib, with both trying to eliminate one another. And the long term result as my friend Flyer told me, UMNO is going towards implosion with the entity being behind the 8-ball.

You only need to put your thinking cap to see how the situation is. By removing Ali Rustam, which not a Najib supporter, the chances of Muhyiddin Yassin, being Najib's number 2 is much much better, and it is said that he can win big at the general assembly. After the decision was announced, the compromise that Najib offered to Ali is that he can still remain as the CM of Melaka, but do you notice that it's more of a trade off, and to let Muhyiddin win?

You can forget about Mike Tyson Taib, for he can never win, given of his Mi No Spik Inglis problem. But from outside, the three of them are among the bad boys - "call it underbosses" if you wish so. So there is no 'lesser of evils' if you are asked to pick one.

Khir Toyo, competing for Youth Post escapes with the innocent verdict, while Khairy was found guilty but given a warning. This means that for those voters that Khairy will end up the losing end. It will be a good fight between Mukhriz and Khir but if the money factor plays through, then it will be Khir Toyo winning. There was a comment that Najib might not give Mukhriz a favor of winning really.

In Abdullah Badawi's first 4 years, some of his aspirations and objectives could not be implemented because of too many Mahathir's men - now supporting Najib as ministers in the cabinet that objected to what he wishes. So when he announced the new cabinet line-up after March 8 2008, the number of ministers are mainly his own men, with the rest, for example JJ was booted out of the cabinet portfolio.

Anwar Ibrahim was quoted today on Malaysiakini on Ali's suspension that the disciplinary committee has too many Najib's men, and stacks against Abdullah's camp. It can be, it might not be. If Najib's men were booted out of the cabinet portfolio earlier on, then this can be a fightback, with Najib's men trying to boot out Abdullah's loyalists. Ali Rustam is a case in point.

To some people, UMNO general assembly next Thursday onwards brings forth much suspense as many speculate that there's plenty of twists and turns out there. A twist, speculated is that Abdullah Badawi, being the President in capacity decides to say that all nominations held are null and void and will have to be reconducted with tight security and monitoring. And those who poured money in those campaigns could find themselves caught with their asses out. Also, this could be a time where Abdullah can pull out his trump card, the proof of misconduct and etc on Najib and his underlings...

Yes, let the greatest Malaysian political drama on stage roll in for a limited time only next week!

Barack Obama As The New POTUS

At office, we would sometimes tune in to CNN as we would want to track some business news around the world. Throughout the whole yesterday, they were covering the presidential elections and by lunchtime, Barack Obama crossed the 270 votes required to become president of the United States. At evening, the score was 338 to 163 with four states yet to submit their poll counts.

Yes, it is the first time where el presidente is a black man. And I did remember a joke by our cartoonist LAT that said 'the 41st president of United States is Joshua F Washington from Harlem'! It's not like in Malaysia where the majority of votes come from the main race but in the states, the amount of minorities, hispanic, black and otherwise are the ones swinging the vote in favor of Obama.

I know some celebs holding the left / right stance. Warren Beatty would be happy. He's leftist stance has found the day. I also know that Harrison Ford, being a rightist got what he needed. Wyoming, his state voted for McCain. McCain got support from the whites and the rightists. Say, remember what he said, 'I like Ike' in Indiana Jones?

But anyhow, Adrian, being addicted to black man music from his time in Alabama was cautioning me over the tendency of Obama last week. I was surprised that Alabama voted for McCain. Coming back to the point, Adrian cautioned me that since Barack is the first black president in the history, he feared that he might not last long. First concern is that he might never finish his first term in office since Obama has some enemies, particularly the white supremacists (note that two were arrested for attempted assassination recently). And he did warn me that Obama being elected could trigger the chain of events that could set in motion as what was written in the Bible. I also recalled of the past history where Lincoln is made enemy by white supremacists when he signed the law that abolishes slavery - that ended with his assasination.

The one reason I preferred Obama over McCain is simply on how will he handle the economy. McCain is the military man, but the doubt is on whether he can handle it or not.

For me, I only have one concern that is outsourcing. My Indian colleagues are pretty concerned that Barack Obama doesn't want to much outsourcing and intends to limit it so that the Americans get a fair chance at job. In America right now, number of retrenchments are pretty high, but in Asia it's different. Everyone takes the pain, the method is via a pay cut.

Finally what about Malaysia. Can we take the lesson from USA that people have enough of 8 years of George Bush? People's will is still lacking and Barack did say of we do not wait for time and the special person to do it. UMNO is akin to right-wing people, pre-emptive actions, clinging to power, refusing to listen to people, arrogance. I don't really think the stimulus package would work. And if the worst is happening the constant 4-letter word that is uttering out from people's mouths is not F**K but UMNO.

They Can Be MP But With One Difference

I had a thirty minute talk with Cap. Sardon (Flyer168) over the phone. I actually saw a posting on Anwar Ibrahim's blog which mention of a ceramah at Kampung Tun Sardon tomorrow night. In my mind, I remembered that Raja Petra came to few places like in Kampung Tun Uda in Klang or Jalan Raja Uda in Bagan / Seberang Perai (since his grandfather was Raja Tun Sir Uda) and similarly Cap. should be given the chance to talk. Raja Petra once told the people at Kampung Uda: "If you do not vote for opposition, then this village should change its name already." ( if I remembered correctly - that's how people voted for Charles Santiago in the elections).

I asked Loke whether if he is interested to give a talk to the people there but politely, he declined for he had something on tomorrow. He was very confident, very certain that the people in that village will reject BN for they had not get any development under the Abdullah regime. He was certain to leave things to people like Guan Eng or Anwar to do the talking. Seems like they can speak on their behalf. I remembered he told me of his son Adam interviewing Guan Eng for his documentary - straight away it gives the hunch that he could be there tomorrow to tell what Cap wants to say to the village there.

Anyhow...back to the point. The first question Cap. Sardon asked was of whether I had followed Haris or Benny to the coverage of the Permatang Pauh nomination day. Told him no, but I felt that he might want to tell the people there of the difference between Anwar and Ariff. Everyone knows Ariff is related to his brother, being declared bankrupt. My friend's friend was related to Amin, I was surprised when I met him in Mid Valley to do some shopping.

One post from Haris actually prompted me to write this as well and would like to ask people to think carefully before picking either Ariff or Anwar. Anyone can be an MP - with a sweet mouth to do the talking but there is one difference that seperates the definition of actual representation to the public. I think a real MP plays part of shaping the outlook and outcome of the entire nation, not just a small piece of land. Shaping the nation requires visionary reps who have a good foresight and are prepared to argue.

Actually, it's okay for an MP to argue against the coalition. It actually makes things better because one party gets to understand the feelings of the other one and vice-versa. Sadly it's not seen in Barisan Nasional because of the toe-the-line thing. A candidate can say "I can become a betterment for the people here" but unfortunately, there will be a point where he/she cannot go further because of the party stance. If they go over the line, then they face the whip that is Najib. So that's why they are forced to become the yes-men. It is evident during the motion on Price Increases end of June. All BN voted for, but you can notice that some quietly disagreed but could not do so because to do so insults Dollah Badawi that doesn't know economics!

The major difference between a BN MP and a PR MP is obviously the scope of serving. If they are limited to serving the people within the consituent, then they are no more than being Longkang MPs - only for their own camp, but not for the good of nation. Many knew and that's why UMNO partners got whacked badly in the general elections. Take Guan Eng for example, being an assemblymen, (CM, automatically) he had won the Penangnites over because of his style of leadership. On the federal level, he was critical on some issues that caught attention of many. Now that's how actual MPs do, not those longkang MPs.

Of course, people started loving Guan Eng for his CAT style of leadership. The ones that makes noise in Penang is obviously the 'mamaks' in UMNO like Abdul Aziz (lost in Kulim) and etc.. So there's a hint, as according to Malaysiakini that Anwar can win with great majority apart from negliegence of course.

Ezam - prominently mentioning of Anwar's secrets of etc.. has forgotten his own thing. I remembered that he swore in the past that he will never rejoin UMNO or so. But he has broken his vow. I think the lure of money was too good over the conscience and promise he made.

I would want tell you people out there under the Permatang Pauh thing there: it's not voting because you just blindly a loyalist to party or something. It's about looking at the next 3-5 years. Anwar has shown his visions of how he intends to set things correct (education, economy, social structures) that was spoiled because of the failed social experiment. What did Ariff tell you of ideas or contributions in the next 5 years? Not much or just so-so. Ariff is just a potential longkang MP.

There is a lesson to be learnt and that is from those who blindly voted for Barisan in the south-eastern states. The consequence that was suffered from the folly was the fuel price increase. Abdullah Badawi had a bad foresight of increasing. I told my friends, there will be a global economic problem if fuel prices go beyond $135 per barrel. Look..after it hits $147, it dropped drastically to $114 right now. I was told that they might not revise the price at all after September 1...I wish I could be proven wrong in this.