Varsity in JB rejects visit by PM Najib?

Got am SMS from a friend who heard that the Southern College University in Skudai, Johor Bahru had turned down Najib Razak during the PM's visit to Johor Bahru yesterday. Not true, I told the friend. Najib's event went smoothly. During the visit, he announced the setting up of a Chinese school in the Iskandar region. No Malaysian PM has done so much for Chinese education in the country as Najib has in a very short time, so why should the varsity reject his visit.

But I double checked, all the same, and found that the rumors would have something to do with an article in Nanyang Siangpau published today. Read it h e r e. It's safe to conclude that more such talk would be spread until polling day on May 5. The fact is, Najib's the first PM to have visited the Southern U. 

But another Prime Minister has an significant place in the history of the university's formation. He is none other than Tun Dr Mahathir Moahamad, whom the DAP is trying very hard today to paint as an anti-Chinese ex-Prime Minister. As history has it, nothing could be further from the truth ...

On the eve of Johor Bahru Parliamentary district by-election, Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir attended the joint Chinese New Year Celebration of Johor Bahru's Chinese societies. Dato’ Low Nam Hui, the Chairman of Persekutuan Tiong-hua Johor Bahru proposed to Dr. Mahathir for approving the application of setting up Foon Yew College and the proposal was taken into consideration; Read more here.

[Despite BN losing that by-election in 1988, Dr Mahathir approved the setting up of the college, which was renamed Southern College and later Southern College University. It was set up in 1990 as the first non-profit private higher institute of learning in the country]. 

19 juta terima kasih

Salam,

This blog, born with the posting of Time Flies [May 21, 2006], reached 19 million unique visitors yesterday.

It is so because of the will of Allah and thanks to each and everyone of you, dear readers.

Here's hoping to reach 20 and wishing that politics will, after May 5th, unite instead of divide us.

Salut!

The circus in Gelang Patah

Reminds you of anyone?

Fifty-fifty. That's what most people offer when you ask for the odds on the Ghani Othman-Lim Kit Siang contest for Gelang Patah. The odd gambler would put it at 45-55. One seasoned chap said it started at 40-60 but has since climbed to 48 per cent but still in favour of Lim Kit Siang. Considering that 53 per cent of the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat's voters are Chinese, and given the perceived "solid" Chinese support that DAP claims it is getting, Ghani's camp ought to be pleased with the improving odds, if indeed things were what they had been made out to be.

These, of course, were before Najib Razak's tour of the Johor battleground yesterday. Yesterday's visit, the pundits say, has given a boost to Ghani's "Johor Way". Johor fan yong (prosperous). Ghani, chong yong (moderate, likeable). You can almost feel the beat and sense the mood from afar. Shamsul Akmar, editor of the KL-based Mole, captures the spirit well in A Malaysian Opportunity in Gelang Patah. 

"Ghani is not just anybody. He was the Mentri Besar of Johore who had served the state since 1995 and if the state has progressed and the Chinese has prospered, surely they would not have any qualms in returning him as their Member of Parliament.

"Surely he stands head and shoulder above Lim who is the Ipoh Timur MP and would not have the track record to prove to the Johoreans at large or the people of Gelang Patah.

"In short, Ghani who has set up home in Johore would surely be preferred to Lim who is part of the travelling carnival candidates, who moves from one seat to another, under whatever guise it may be." - www.mole.my

Will the circus settle down permanently in Gelang Patah, or will it just be passing by? We shall see come May 5. After Najib's visit and with cracks showing within the DAP itself after Norman Fernandez's outburst against hudud and a hardly bottled-up contempt for Kit Siang and the other DAP ":outsiders" contesting in Johor, expect a bigger-than-usual circus to come to Gelang Patah in the next few days to bolster the odds. And with any circus, expect a lot of clowns.

PAS the big bro in Pakatan, not DAP ...

... So it's DAP that will lose out as a result of its outburst against hudud, not PAS. Or so says the PAS ulama chief Harun Taib (pic) in response to estranged Johor DAP deputy chairman. Kluang-born Norman Fernandez. DAP has been trying hard to downplay the issue but if PAS pushes it with polling day just around the corner, the Chinese-based party might have to kow-tow to the ulamas or take action against Fernandez.

"Pas has the biggest number of support and it is increasing by days. I fear that the DAP will suffer from the effect of his (Fernandez) statement and not us. DAP may lose out on Pas' votes for such remarks.” - Harun Taib

Read the Mole's scoop Ulama chief says PAS is the biggest in Pakatan ...

For context, read Syed Akbar Ali's Johor cannot gamble and risk its future with PAS

Ah, Norman Fernandez ("Over my dead body" Part 2)

Insensitive: A DAP paragliding display in Gelang Patah
yesterday has left local leaders less than amused. Read here

Anti-Hudud, Anti-para gliders. Lawyer Norman Fernandez is the deputy state chairman of DAP Johor, known, like Karpal Singh, for his strong views against Hudud. He made the front page of the Star today for an article that was published in the OutSyed The Box blog. Ironically, it's Karpal, the DAP veteran who uttered the notorious "over my dead body" response to PAS' plans to implement the Hudud during the pre-Pakatan days, who has come out to downplay Norman's vicious attack on DAP's partner in Pakatan as the views of an individual.

Lim Kit Siang was scheduled to call for a press conference to deal with Norman this afternoon but hasn't done so, perhaps for fear of worsening the crisis. For next to Hudud, friends in Johor said the thing Norman is hugely against is the party's decision to parachute [or paraglide, given yesterday's splendid air display by the party] candidates from outside Johor - candidates like Kit Siang - to contest parliamentary and state seats in the state during the PRU13 on May 5.    

Kit Siang's son has left it to Johor DAP to punish its deputy chairman, here.

Karpal confirms it

Broken Bangle, JB and Broken dreams in Sabah

Just arrived in Johor Bahru, not too far from Gelang Patah (translated Broken Bangle) where the battle of the GE13 between Lim Kit Siang and challenger Ghani Othman, heavyweights in their own right, will rage on right till polling day on May 5th. It was raining heavily and as rain goes, you can take it as a bad omen or rahmat, a blessing.

In far away Sabah, it's raining fire. The birthplace of Pakatan Rakyat's "Ini Kali Lah" slogan for the general election has been anything but a blessing for the Opposition. Its leaders are defecting to Barisan Nasional and at the last count, more than half a dozen PKR bases have closed shop even before the start of the final week of campaigning.

According to Sabahkini, the new happening slogan for the Opposition is Tatap Ranap. Find out what it means h e r e while I venture out of my modest hotel room to find out where Ghani and Kit Siang will be tonight.

The 1MDB bonds: A guide for Malaysian politicians and other idiots

Gwo Burne The Second. If you thought Rafizi Ramli was bad, meet Wong Chen, chairman of the PKR trade and investment bureau. His attempt at "exposing" 1MDB's recent bond issue as "shrouded in secrecy" has exposed himself as the new mo on the block, instead. And there we were thinking that, surely, it would be easy for PKR to replace Gwo Burne with someone better than Gwo Burne himself because there could only be one Gwo Burne in this whole wide world. Well, my sympathies to the long-suffering Kelana Jaya people.

Now, I'm no expert - I'm just a seasoned business journalist and a sometimes controversial socio-political blogger - but I can tell when politicians don't know what they are taking about and Wong Chen does not know what he's talking about.

Shoud stick to issues he understands: Full story h e r e

"Wong said that it was a surprise that the government had allowed a yield of 30 years for this privately placed bond when government guaranteed bonds in the past had only a 20-year yield."

The 1MDB bonds are not guaranteed by the Malaysian government. They are bond guaranteed by parties in Qatar, a sovereign country. Malaysian government-guaranteed bonds such as Petronas, Khazanah or Cagamas are ringgit-denominated whereas 1MDB bonds are US dollar-denominated. To compare different denominated currencies is like comparing apple with oranges.

"We are talking about two different credit risks," a financial advisor told me last night.

"... Local banks would have only charged about six figures,” he said.

Now, this is sooo telling. It you one thing: that Wong Chen doesn't know the industry. He said: “If our local banks had arranged for this exercise, they will only charge a nominal fee as it is considered a national duty to work on government backed bonds"  Math ain't my forte but according to my calculator, a six-figure fee is less than 0.01 per cent of the RM9.3 billion worth of bonds issued. Not even 1 per cent!  Wow. When Ananda Krishnan raised his RM4 billion bonds, he reportedly paid over RM100 million in fees to the banks. Nobody batted an eyelid.

Btw, Wong, national duty is our soldiers and commandos who fought to defend this country and died a "mati katak" death, to quote one of your senior comrades.

p.s. The 1MDB did respond to Wong Chen  in 1MDB: Baseless allegatoins as election ploy

Testing

Test tests testes tentacles testicles tested test

The letter Guan Eng didn't want you to read

This letter to Saudara Lim Guan Eng from the Registrar of Societies is to-the-point, professional. 

Yet it was not just spun, its content was twisted, turned and teared as the Lims cried, cried wolf and cried foul in the hope that the people would forget that it was them - not ROS or anyone else - who mucked up their own little in-house election back in December 2012 and it was their own comrades who lodged a complaint about procedural discrepancies that resulted in 753 party members denied their rights to vote. Even so-called non-partisan observers like Bridget Welsh fell for it when she declares This tactic is perhaps the most blatant. Do they assume that people do not respect fair play? Do they think that Malaysians are willing to accept a process that is unfair? Did she forget the right of the 753 DAP members to fair play and a process that is "bersih".

Now, where in the ROS letter did you say the DAP would not be allowed to use its party logo for Nominations Day or/and General Elections?

The "Rocket" that never meant to land on the "Moon" in the first place

Kudos to the Registrar of Societies who stood firm and called the DAP's bluff despite the tears and the threat from the  Opposition public. As Frankie says, "there was never a threat to deregister the party". If the Lims thought they had come up with a great plan to cover the big hole of their party elections in December, they may have dug the hole even deeper now ...

Brilliance of DAP?
Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 19:23
by Frankie D'Cruz

THE stunning scheme by the DAP to use the logo of another party was a deliberate ploy to draw public sympathy, say party insiders.They said the unprecedented strategy brought to fore the moral and ethical shortfalls of the party leadership and exposed a “brilliant” plan that was hatched for a sterling performance at the stumps.Ground readings by The Malay Mail showed that while the DAP may have achieved that to a degree, the misstep by the party has also triggered outrage among party members and supporters.Despite going to the polls with its ‘rocket’, members of the largely Chinese DAP felt that the party’s intention to use PAS’ moon logowas an indication that both parties now accept each other’s ideologies.They said it was tactically a great move, as it could condition non-Muslim voters to view PAS favourably as well as dispel lingering notions among Muslims that the DAP was against PAS philosophy.The Chinese held that using the PAS logo was demeaning to the community. Muslims, on the other hand, berated the PAS leadership for the symbol accord and warned them not to sacrifice its principles.One party insider said the Registrar of Societies (RoS) did not bow to public pressure in allowing DAP candidates to use their own party symbol because “there never was a threat to deregister the party”.He said the RoS was procedurally right in not recognising DAP’s newlyelected central executive committee (CEC) after its party election results were called into question.“The party leadership failed to heed calls by the RoS to hold fresh elections and gave them ample time to do so. They insisted that the amended results were correct and acceptable. 

Why rocket never landed on the moon 

“However, the latest letter by the RoS to the party dated April 17 was ill-timed and caused widespread confusion that to my assessment resulted in a substantial number of fence sitters swinging towards the DAP,” he said.The letter stated that the RoS was doubtful of the validity of the CEC’s status on grounds that the complaints from 753 DAP members that they were disallowed from contesting the party elections last Dec. 15.It noted the technical glitch in the poll results was also a source of discontent among members. A revision of the results three weeks after the convention saw Vincent Wu drop to the 26th spot from the original sixth position, while Zairil Abdullah, originally 39th climbed up to 20th spot and earned a seat in the CEC.Another insider said the RoS had set April 18 for an inquiry, but the party asked for a postponement and set May 17 as the new date.“In the so-called party symbol crisis, the RoS was merely stating the obvious that it could not recognise the new CEC. It has neither declared the elections or the CEC null and void. Any decision about the legality of the elections would only come after a full inquiry.“The latest letter was just a reminder that the party must provide explanations to the satisfaction of the registrar, failing which the RoS can deregister the party.“Such reminders are common as many societies have similarly received such notices in the past,” he said.He said: “Even if the new CEC is not recognised by RoS, the party still can function as the previous committee can assume their duties until a decision on the new committee is made. This principle is similar to the caretaker function in any association and government.“So, there is no issue about the DAP not being able to use its rocket symbol as it is still a valid political party and its logo is still registered with Election Commission.“There is no issue about whether party the secretary-general (Lim Guan Eng) could issued letters of authorisation to party candidates as he also served as secretary-general in the previous CEC.”He said the facts had been brilliantly distorted by the DAP leadership to paint a picture that the RoS intentionally wanted to de-register the party with alleged Barisan Nasional prodding.The script that followed, he said, was “ingenious”. “To condition the mind of the people, they deliberately used words such as “despicable”, “BN sabotage”, “worse than repressive Singapore”, “how can we trust their word (referring to the Election Commission) as well as questioned the timing of such letter from the RoS.

He said the drama kings then emerged: An emotional Guan Eng showing anger, his father Kit Siang crying over having no choice, but to discard their rocket and go to the moon.

Her sorry excuse

Updated: 
1. Kamilia, Sharif among 61 sacked by Umno for aligning themselves as "Independent" candidates. 
2. PAS sacks "independents" and their proposers and seconders


Original posting:
BN not fielding top Wanita Umno candidates for PRU13? Her boss Najib Razak wanted the 61-year old deputy Wanita chief (now axed) to stand in the Bukit Chandan state assembly seat on May 5; she said she wanted the Kuala Kangsar parliamentary seat. Najib said no so Kamilia Ibrahim decided to stand as an independent candidate against her own party.

Why? Her excuse:

Kamilia: Women are worthless in Umno

The numbers, however, disagree with Kamilia.

In PRU12, 2008, BN fielded 61 women candidates; 30 were from Umno. 

For PRU13, 2013, BN is fielding 71 women candidates; 33 are from Umno.

Now, as a politician, Kamilia is not in the same league as Rafidah Aziz or Shahrizat Jalil and stands no chance as an independent in the three-cornered fight for the Kuala Kangsar seat. Forget Azalina or Halimah of Johor because in the current Perak line-up, there is a Wanita leader with feet larger than Kamilia, Azalina or Halimah's, so much so that even Nga Kor Ming and an army of partisan political bloggers are in awe of her.

There was talk that Kamilia was open to the highest bidder but since Najib wasted no time in sacking her unceremoniously for her action, there can't be that much currency left: there's only Pakatan left for Kamilia to turn. Will she do that? 

A Malay Mail report yesterday says Kamilia was seen at the nomination centre (Saturday) "walking away from the supporters of the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat" ... Mmm.

4,637 who may not vote for Nurul Izzah

"We have been voting here before she was born." Nurul Izzah d/o Anwar Ibrahim may have dug a big hole for herself. On March 22, she directed her lawyer Edmund Bon to file a judicial review, demanding the Election Commission to nullify the registration of 4,637 or seven per cent out of 72,533 voters in Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat, which she is defending for the first time.

About 50 people whose names are on the list called for a press conference yesterday. They

Tan:I am a legitimate voter

were, needless to say, pissed off with their MP for making them out to be "phantom" voters.

Tong Gaik Hooi, 56, a resident in Taman Seri Sentosa said he is not afraid to show his proof that he is a legitimate voter on polling day on May 5th. "I don't know if it is a political tactic by her to go against BN, but I will just do my duty as a citizen."

The Mole has the story h e r e.

Syed Akbar Ali's take on the issue h e r e
Open letter to Nurul Izzah and RNC by Anas Zubedy

Dapless in Kuantan

Pakatan "big brother" stays away from P083. PKR Fuziah Salleh's bid to defend her Kuantan parliamentary seat in the 13th General Election faces a major snag when DAP taikors ordered their supporters not to campaign for her. "Vote anything - vote a dog also can - but not her".

Spot the Rocket: Click to enlarge

Why so angry, koko?  I was told by Fuziah's own supporters that DAP had expected to be given at least 1 state seat (Teruntum) and was pissed off big time when the seats went to PKR and PAS.At nominations for Fuziah's parliamentary seat and the 3 Kuantan DUNs yesterday, DAP supporters, flags, buntings were nowhere to be seen (inspect pic, right).

There are 18,227 Chinese voters in Kuantan, or about a third of the total number of voters. In 2008, Fuziah beat MCA's Fu Ah Kiow with a mere 1,826 majority. Her challenger on 5/5/13 is a 42-year old Kuantan born-and-raised chap the aunties and uncles in town and the villages have nicknamed "Suffian ni hau".

You can find out a little about Fuziah's challenger at Annie's h e r e. More about him from me later.

Handling a self-inflicted crisis, DAP style

The new DAP logo, if Guan Eng gets his way

I wish I'd published this article earlier. It was in the mail last night but I did not get to read it as I was on the road to Pekan, where Najib Razak will submit his nomination papers tomorrow morning, as will all candidates who are hoping to contest in the May 5th general election, including our sulking friends from the DAP. I see the Rocket's flags and buntings still flying here in Kuantan. At the rate they were going I thought they would have taken all of them down by now. - Bru, eve of nominations day, 8.52pm

UMNO and DAP: the mature and the immature

 By Steve Roads

Recent political events bring into sharp focus the fundamental differences in crisis management between DAP and Umno.

When DAP faced a slight predicament, it resorted to shedding tears and being emotional.

When UMNO faced a major upheaval, it just went ahead and re-invented itself.

Therein lies the difference between political immaturity and political maturity.

The DAP drama began to unfold recently when the Registrar of Societies announced the non-recognition of the party elections held in December last year for positions in its Central Executive Committee due to some discrepancies.

Incensed, Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng told the media yesterday: “The DAP CEC in its meeting tonight decided that RoS must revoke its letter not recognising the office-bearers in the CEC by 3pm tomorrow on Friday.”

(That is already a contradiction. How can an unrecognised committee meet? Surely such a meeting is illegal, and therefore its demand cannot have legitimacy or clout).

DAP stalwart and Lim's father, Lim Kit Siang, was also there when Guan Eng spoke to the press. Kit Siang told the media: “I want to confess I shed tears.”

  

The younger Lim further confessed:“Many of our members shed tears. How do you explain to your voters?” DAP Chairman Karpal Singh also admitted to being emotional over the incident.

Compare DAP's crisis response to UMNO's crisis response.  UMNO faced a major challenge in 1987. In that year, the courts ruled that UMNO was an illegal organisation due to the existence of several unregistered branches. That was an offence under the Societies Act of 1966.

But UMNO leaders did not rave and rant about the court ruling. It did not hold a press conference and condemn the judge nor demand that the law be amended. They did bnot take to the streets.  Instead, under Tun Mahathir, a new party called UMNO BARU was registered. Over time, the BARU was dropped, and UMNO became whole again.

Apart from the differences in the approach of UMNO and DAP to challenges, let's look at the DAP 'grouse' more closely. Guan Eng said that in issuing the letter dated April 17, 2013, just two days before nomination day, the ROS intended to “kill off DAP’s electoral prospects" in the general election.

He added:"..This is completely disgraceful, (DAP supporters will ) show their anger at the ballot box. We want BN to feel the anger of not just our supporters, but also right-thinking Malaysians,” he said

Slow down, Guan Eng, not so fast. What did you say about right-thinking Malaysians? Perhaps you were referring to non-thinking Malaysians. 

Because all right-thinking Malaysians know that nobody is above the law. And that if the law is breached, the violator must either pay the penalty.

All right-thinking Malaysians know it is wrong to place one's own infractions before the feet of UMNO.

All right-thinking Malaysians know it is wrong to shoot from the hip. The complaints of wrongdoing did not come from outside but they all came from party members.  Are you saying, Guan Eng, that some party members are more equal than others? That ROS should ignore the complaints from some members and listen only to those who are close and dear to you?

It is clear Guan Eng, you are blinded by rage and arrogance. You have shown that you have little respect for the law of the land, even less respect for your party constitution and no respect at all for your ordinary members.

Surely they will show their anger at the ballot box--at your expense.

Pandan gets a sign from above ...

BN’s Pandan hopeful Gary Lim hit by professional misconduct, fraud allegations ...?

read the Malaysian Insider's scoop h e r e.

Incumbent

PKR's hope

If it's true, then it's nothing less than Divine intervention. Najib Razak must take it as a sign that Ong Tee Keat, the BN incumbent, should be allowed to defend his seat. OTK has served the people in Pandan as well as any elected Member of Parliament can. In 2008 he won the parliamentary seat despite the two state seats going to the Opposition! That was how popular this man was. If anything, he is more popular than ever now and is BN's best chance to square off with PKR's meteoric Rafizi Ramli.

Why there won't be a "tsunami" this time around Pt 2

Winter of discontent again but at someone else

In Part 1, I wrote about two factors: 

1. The anger towards an ineffective government

2. The Tun Mahathir factor

The third reason why there won't be a repeat of the so-called political tsunami that denied the Barisan Nasional its traditional two-thirds majority is what a journalist calls, "the end of Pakatan's innocence".

Back in 2008, the pact that bound PKR, PAS and DAP together was new, even though the idea of a multi-party coalition itself wasn't. The BN coalition had been a success formula for decades, bringing together various parties under the leadership of Umno, and there were no intellectual copyrights involved so all Anwar Ibrahim had to do was took an old concept and gave it a new packaging. It worked - well, almost! Pakatan won 5 states and broke the BN's two-thirds stronghold on Parliament.

After five years, however, the freshness that was Pakatan has turned quite stale indeed, at least too some quarters. Promises were not fulfilled (perhaps that was what drove Khalid Ibrahim to say recently that Pakatan's manifesto was not a promise!?) and each component of the pact started to show signs of stress. Those who used to support the pact have abandoned it. The latest was Hindraf, the Hindu body that threw its support solidly behind Anwar Ibrahim against Abdullah Badawi because of the promises made to it. 

Today, in fact earlier this afternoon, Hindraf has openly called on Hindus and Indians to give the BN back its two-thirds majority in Parliament. The formerly exiled Hindraf leader P.Waythamoorthy said Hindraf had "begged" Pakatan Rakyat to endorse its blueprint even after five years of non-delivery towards Indians in Pakatan-administered states.

"Even after they failed to deliver in five states, I told them we can do it right this time, in this election. Until few days ago, I was still begging them. They said there will be a meeting, but none of the leaders showed up," Wathamoorthy said h e r e, adding that Pakatan had "insulted" Hindraf.

Hindraf isn't the only one disillusioned with Pakatan Rakyat.

To be con'td ...

A May 5 Chaos?/Vote 4 Harmony

Post-Sunday election Venezuela: Malaysians don't need this on May 5

"We have seen an internal PKR document dated Dec 15, 2012, which lists out various steps to create chaos and dissatisfaction against the Elections Commission on polling day by raising repeated protests at the polling station so as to cause the other voters waiting in the queue to be unhappy and dissatisfied with the EC." - Tunku Aziz, former Transparency International (Malaysia)

Tunku was NOT ok with
Bersih 3.0 and he said so

If this was a statement made by some half-past-six punk, I'd ignore it. But this is Tunku Aziz, the gentleman the DAP called the "towering Malay" when he belonged to the party and to Pakatan Rakyat. [Leaked emails show Zionist group did work for PKR, April 17]. 

Add this to the threat of "peaceful intimidation" against "foreigners with Mykad" by the hate groupie Abutohs [ABU's Anything But Understandable, Apr 18], people have a basis to be quite concerned. I don't know how but the police and the security forces are doing about it but I know they have they have the responsibility to ensure that the these alleged or potential threats on the welfare of the people are not carried out on May 5 when we go to the polls.   


p.s. Another wise man who got a lot wiser after a political brief stint with Anwar Ibrahim is Dr Chandra Muzaffar. His latest piece is entitled Vote for Harmony and fits in well with this peace-loving posting. 

Read it h e r e. 

A tahlil for Pak Non

The National Press Club will be holding a tahlil for the late Zainon Ahmad or better known as Pak Non, its president from 1999 to 2003, next Thursday 25^th April 2013 at 12.30pm at the Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. All media acquaintances are invited to attend. Non-Muslims are advised to join the lunch after the zohor prayers.

If you are a journalist and wish to attend, please inform the NPC club manager at 019245 8073

Why there won't be a "tsunami" this time around

You can feel it in the air. Back in 2008, there was a creeping national anger directed at an administration that was sleeping on its job. It was a powerful catalyst, more so because the anger was felt and shared by political rivals and, more potently, by those who were not aligned to either the Opposition or the Government. 

Today, a fortnight away from the 13th General Election, 5 years after the historic March 3 2008 outcome, that feeling is not there anymore. The Najib Razak administration has not been sleeping on the job. He's brought improvements, major positive changes, and reforms (transformation is his preferred word) since taking up office in 2009 by pushing very, very hard. Even the tireless Dr Mahathir Mohamad concedes that his successor's successor probably works harder than he did when he was PM.

Back then in Sleepyland, you had Dr M working hard against the BN government led by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for reasons I know we all who were involved then remember but which I shall not discuss for good manners. Also, the bloggers were being isolated, sued, jailed, ostracized, circumcized, etc. RPK, Jeff Ooi, Rocky Bru, Sheikh Kickdefella, Big Dog, AKJ, Nuraina Samad etc .. Ah, all the troublemakers! Even the newbies back then, such as Haris Ibrahim and Zorro who later became big pro-Pakatan bloggers, were part of "us". These bloggers all and without exception rallied behind and beside - who else? - Dr M. The pact was influential, forceful, and again very potent. (The likes of Papagomo, Parpukari, and the UMB bloggers and the Komtar cybertroopers had not been born; when they came, they changed and enriched the landscape further).

Today, Dr Mahathir is working hard FOR the BN government. And the BN government hasn't been demonizing him like it did before PRU12. In fact, even before Najib announced the PRU dates, the former PM was already firing scuds into enemy territories, earning himself a legal suit threat from Lim Kit Siang, several police reports, and a whole new huge following. 

To be con'd ... 

Lim Kit Siang's Challenger

From MB to underdog in his own state, Ghani risks losing all by taking on Golliath

The crazy Johorean underdog vs the marauding DAP old dog. Quite clearly, even the combined genius of Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang did not see it coming. They thought they had a perfect plan: send in the DAP strongman to raid Gelang Patah and set up a Chinese vs Chinese showdown. There are more Chinese voters in GP than Malays, Indians and other races combined and the DAP knew that if it could make it into a racial and hardcore all-Chinese hand-to-hand combat, the MCA wouldn't stand a chance. It's DAP's niche, and Kit Siang's forte.

They didn't count on BN sending in an Umno candidate to "challenge" Kit Siang. And certainly not Ghani Othman the Menteri Besar himself, the state BN chief. Sending Kit Siang to GP was described as a brave thing. Ghani's bravery is best described (and has been described h e r e) as crazy.

I was first told of Ghani's intention to meet Kit Siang at GP a few weeks ago when I was in Muar, the "royal town". After Anwar confidently announced that Kit Siang was going to GP to spearhead Pakatan's assault on the Umno frontier, the Johor Menteri Besar called for a meeting in his war room the assess the situation. He was informed that Kit Siang and Anwar intended to turn the general elections in Johor into a "bloody racial affair" by sending DAP candidates after every MCA seat. Ghani, the quintessential Johor-Malaysian, said he wished to avoid any scenario that could make the state more racially polarised. And with that he took it upon himself to take on Kit Siang.

And screws up Anwar-Kit Siang's original plan.

Plan B now, ladies and gentlemen, is to condemn MCA for "lending out" Chinese seats (like Gelang Patah) to Umno and MIC. We will find it funny, of course, since PKR, DAP and PAS swap seats all the time, too. Read MCA, lending out seats, lives on borrowed time? Hard to miss the racial and racist connotations, right? 

MCA president Chua Soi Lek can also expect to be crucified upside down and politically buggered repeatedly from now until Nominations Day and from then until Polling Day for dropping "rakyat-friendly" leaders like Ong Tee Keat.  But to accuse the MCA president (who isn't contesting, either) of intolerant of dissent is another laughable concept because that's what the DAP has been about all this while. 

To be frank, I am disappointed to learn that OTK would not be making mincemeat of Rafizi Ramli (PKR) in Pandan. But as the president of his party, CSL has to do what a president has to do. He thinks Tee Keat is not a team player, too individualistic, that's his discretion. At least we know that if he's wrong, CSL will own up later. The thing is, Kit Siang would have done what CSL just did much earlier, and he would have done it in the name the party and would have accused Tee Keat of showing insufficient love for the party.

Sunday election a bane to Malaysian Christians? Tell that to the Venezuelans!

Updated
"He is a man of hate, not faith". Read also: Bishop Paul Tan condemns polling on Sunday but there were THREE GEs held on Sunday by YB Wee Choo Keong
Uskup Paul Tan Melenting by Helen Ang

Venezuela, 95% Christians, elect its President on a Sunday

"Venezuelans just elected Nicolas Marudo the new president. Venezuela is 98pc Catholic and the presidential elections was held on Sunday. Only in Malaysia Bishop Paul says cannot because Catholics must pray on Sunday." - An SMS from a reader

Bishop Paul Tan was quick to condemn Najib Razak's decision to set the 13th General Election on

Man of hate, or faith?

a Sunday (May 5th) as a show of disrespect to Christians in the country and "just proves that (his) 1Malaysia slogan was merely rhetorical and not intended to be substantive".

The Bishop intended to sound harsh. Unfortunately, he was also a little too hasty and, I'd hasten to add, pitifully ignorant. He was obviously not aware that Venezuela, where well over 95% of the population adheres to Christianity, had just gone to the polls to elect their new President - on a Sunday.

Sunday is a holy day for the Christians in Venezuela, too, I am sure. So Bishop Paul, you were saying something about disrespect to Christians? [Bishop says Sunday ballot a bane to Christians],

Who owns Wangsa Maju?: The case for fielding YB Wee Choo Keong

Neither MCA nor Umno  "own" Wangsa Maju, if you ask me. YB Wee Choo Keong is the incumbent and serving MP for Wangsa Maju. In 2008 he defeated the BN candidate from MCA by a 150-vote majority. It might have been one of the slimmest margins but if one considers that Wee 1. was not a PKR member even though he contested on their ticket; 2. the DAP hated his guts; and 3. he was not PAS-friendly even though he was born and raised in Kelantan, then Wee's victory in Wangsa Maju 5 years ago had defied the odds. 

He's been serving the constituency well and the people of Wangsa Maju like him and know they can depend on their MP. In Parliament, Wee has been vocal and is a critic of both BN and Pakatan. He even helped lead a cyber campaign that got Najib Razak to reverse a controversial deal brokered by Khazanah which would have let Air Asia take over Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier. 

Yesterday, where the angels from BN dared not thread, Wee questioned both Lim Guan Eng and Ambiga S over what needed to be asked. Read the paper cutting below and tell me if the BN or MCA aspiring candidate for Wangsa Maju has the gumption to take on those two?

 Saturday, April 13, 2013 | Last updated at 15:40 PM

Lim told to explain DAP polls fiasco

KEEPING SILENT: He has failed to act fairly to delegates who were not notified of the CEC election, says former MP

KUALA LUMPUR: FORMER Wangsa Maju independent member of parliament Wee Choo Keong has  asked DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng  to step forward and explain the party’s election fiasco.

 Wee said Lim had  failed to take the necessary steps to act fairly give justice to all the DAP  delegates who were not  notified of the central  executive committee  (CEC) elections, especially the 735 Indian delegates who had been demanding for an explanation.

 “I have come to understand that  he is scared that the Registrar of  Societies (RoS) will interview the 735  DAP delegates who were not in formed about the CEC elections on  Dec 15.

 “We want to know why he is still reluctant to present the name  list of names of the 753 who did  not turn up and the 1,823  delegates who were present,” said Wee, who is also DAP’s  former DAP national  publicity secretary.

 He also questioned  Bersih co-chairman  Datuk S. Ambiga’s on her silence onregarding the issue and  for not defending the  plight of the over 700 Indian delegates that were passed over by  Lim.

 “Is his act clean or  dirty in Ambiga’s eyes?”  he questioned, adding  that  Ambiga  should issue a public statement  if she fully supported his  actions.

 “If RoS ordered that  Lim conduct a re-election and ask all 735 Indian delegates  to be present and vote, would  Ambiga protest?”

 Wee said he was confident that Ambiga  would protest a re-election as it would affect  Lim’s position and give other Indian candidates an opportunity to  win.

 Meanwhile, In Tampin, a former DAP leader  has also asked why Ambiga did not  take an interest in to investigate  DAP’s CEC’s election fiasco.

 Tan Tuan Tat, who is the former Selangor DAP publicity  secretary, was perplexed that Ambiga,  who claimed to champions  clean and free  elections, had never  questioned the party  which often was proud of its  competency, account ability and transparency (CAT) practice.

  “Ambiga is always  challenging the Election Commission to be  fair and just.

  “So, why didn’t she ask DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng about the party’s 753 delegates who  were denied of a chance  to vote at the party’s recent CEC election?”

 Tan was speaking at a dinner meeting with DAP Ladang Regent branch mem bers at Balai Raya Ladang Regent in  Gemencheh, here, on Wednesday.

 He felt that if Ambiga was really  serious about competency, account ability and transparency, then she should  have challenged the DAP to reveal more about the its CEC’s election fiasco.

 He said the public should not  blamed others if the Registrar of Societies (RoS) decided to de-register the party or make it called for a  fresh election, thus not allowing the party to use its logo infor the general  election.

 “Do not blame the other political  parties or their rivals. They should instead look at point to the DAP leaders who  decided to change the election results after the CEC results were out and claimed that there was a technical glitch by the computer,” he added.”

  A total of 2,576 DAP delegates  should have been present at the election to select 20 of the party’s CEC  members, yet 753 of them did not  vote.

Read more: Lim told to explain DAP polls fiasco - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/lim-told-to-explain-dap-polls-fiasco-1.253790#ixzz2QOCSuRPz

Ah, The Posto (and Google launches micro site for 13th GE)

Updated: Google has launched a micro-site dedicated to our GE. Think of it as a non-partisan election hub, it says here. You can assess if that's so by accessing http://www.google.com.my/elections/ed/my 

Original posting

Here's The Posto, a busy-looking news portal, probably run by a small group of ex-mainstream media journalists, pro-BN but not rabidly so; therefore, the stories make good, analytical reading and it fetches quite a bit from www.mole.my, also run by a group of ex-MSM journalists, so the people behind The Posto apparently know where to source reliable news. The best thing about it is it's available the three major languages. 

Forget Mustafa Ali's sex video, watch this one!

A short video of the little things that have made us happier. Politicians and their sex scandals aren't going to make things prettier or easier for most of us. We need a good government for that. 

But if it makes you happy to watch the little things that some politicians dish out, allegedly, I guess you can wait for it h e r e.

Musa Hitam calls for "fairness and political decency"

Caption 1: Musa feels like strangling someone other than himself
Caption 2: "I am certain BN will win ..."

Read the newsreport by the NST below. You can feel his rage. That's how RNC must have felt about Malaysiakini's misuse of his statement h e r e. When I bumped into Eli Wong, the Adun for Lanjang, the other day, she berated me for "leading the BN cybertroopers" this time (Eli and I were part of the All-Blogs that campaigned against the Abdullah Administration in 2008). I was slighted because it is not true and I told Eli (who confirms defending her seat in Lanjan, Selangor) that. She said something about my being part of a BN or Umno war-room structure. How come I didn't know about that?

No, I don't lead cybertroopers. The bloggers who are close to me (and I to them) are more or less the same bloggers who were against Abdullah in PRU12 and who are critical of Najib when need be. These are not "troopers". We are, of course, even more critical of the people in Pakatan because we know what most of them are about (we were together back then, remember?). If it matters at all, I am led by my own conscience and right now it leads me to echo Musa Hitam's call to Pakatan not to abuse the democratic privileges they enjoy.

Come on, it can't be that hard.

Thursday, April 11, 2013 | Last updated at 14:36 PM

'Pakatan misusing my speech'

DESPERATE MOVE: Former DPM Musa Hitam says opposition ploy to use his TV talk is an abuse of democratic privilege

KUALA LUMPUR: FORMER deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam has condemned Pakatan Rakyat as "desperate" for misinterpreting and abusing his speech to woo voters.

In a statement, Musa described Pakatan's move as an "abuse of democratic privilege".

"While I respect the rights of all to indulge in taking such interest on my views and even interpreting me in whichever way, I am concerned over the abuse of such democratic privilege.

"Pakatan seems to be so desperate to promote themselves and to woo support of the electorate that they have resorted to using me as their major weapon to hit back at Barisan Nasional (BN), particularly on the potential of the government not going bankrupt if Pakatan came to power."

Musa was referring to the use of his name and comments from a recent speech at the Bicara Minda series on Astro Awani that seemed to favour the opposition.

"BN seems to have inflicted a huge damage to their credibility on this issue that part of my statements from the Bicara Minda speech, allegedly in support of Pakatan, had to be promoted and displayed prominently in their election campaigns."

Enraged by such ploy, Musa demanded Pakatan stop making claims that he supported them.

"Resorting to using me and quoting me on public billboards must also stop. I make this call in the name of fairness and political decency."

Musa said on the issue of Pakatan's claim that the country would go bankrupt under BN, it was clear that the ruling coalition' manifesto provided a solid rebuttal.

"Having heard the verbal arguments by BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the launch of the BN manifesto, I congratulate Najib for his well articulated arguments against Pakatan.

"Without using me, I urge Pakatan to argue it out and leave it to the good judgment of the electorate."

Musa also clarified that he had no political agenda, in spite of some "absolute rubbish analysis to the contrary".

He also reaffirmed his stand of not returning to politics.

Musa said he would continue to express his personal views on any political matters as and when he felt the need to.

"This is the freedom that I have always enjoyed as a member of Umno, a party which has played a most significant role in the development of our beloved country.

"As an Umno and BN member, and by that very same token, I certainly wish for BN to win this election. Indeed, I am certain that BN will win this time."

Read more: 'Pakatan misusing my speech' - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/pakatan-misusing-my-speech-1.252147#ixzz2Q8QjexzB