Monday, March 17, 2008

Khalid: NEP execution has deviated


Khalid: NEP execution has deviated

Posted by kasee
Tuesday, 18 March 2008, MT
By DHARMENDER SINGH

SHAH ALAM: The implementation of the New Economic Policy has deviated from its original intentions, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said.

He said the policy was intended to help all Malays but, in the 1990s, it started benefiting only certain groups.

“You discriminate within the race as you have to be within the inner circle of Umno to benefit. What is the use of having such a policy?” he said at a press conference at his official residence yesterday.

He said the NEP was an affirmative action plan and he supported it, but stressed that it should reach the whole community and not just a select few and their agents.

He said the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition wanted a policy that continued to help the people, regardless of race.

Khalid said they wanted the Malays to develop businesses that could go global, the Chinese to penetrate the China market, and to provide training for Indians so they would be prepared when their estates are turned into townships 10 years from now.

“The rakyat, too, want us to implement a system meant for everyone,” he said.

Khalid said there was no reason to worry that any group would miss out as there was enough in a rich state like Selangor for all to have a share. He, however, said there would only be enough for all if the state was run efficiently, without corruption and abuse.

He said the state government would also look into the unemployment issue as there should not be any shortage of jobs in a state where 30% of its current workforce constituted foreign workers.

PKR’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was also at the press conference, said there was a need to separate business from politics to ensure a select few did not abuse the system to amass riches in the name of Malay economic progress.

“We want to reach out to all the people. We will protect those at the bottom and we will protect all programmes to help them, including Barisan supporters,” he said. - STAR

Kit Siang menghadap Raja Nazrin



Kit Siang menghadap Raja Nazrin

Mar 17, 08 7:58pm, Malaysiakini.

Selepas dipersalahkan atas pembatalan majlis angkat sumpah menteri besar Perak minggu lepas, tokoh utama DAP Lim Kit Siang hari ini menghadap Pemangku Raja Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, dan memohon maaf secara peribadi kepada baginda.

Dalam kenyataannya hari ini, Lim berkata pertemuan itu diadakan selepas majlis angkat sumpah wakil PAS Ir Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin sebagai menteri besar pagi tadi di Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar.

Sabtu lepas, tambah ahli parlimen Ipoh Timur itu, beliau telah menulis surat rasmi kepada Raja Dr Nazrin berhubung kenyataannya agar 18 wakil rakyat DAP memboikot majlis tersebut yang dijadual Khamis lepas.

Beliau juga kemudiannya membuat kenyataan memohon maaf secara terbuka.

Lim pada waktu itu berkata DAP tidak bersetuju dengan Mohammad Nizar sebagai ketua kerajaan negeri itu.

Kenyataan Lim yang dibuat tidak sampai 24 jam sebelum majlis tersebut telah mendorong, antaranya, pembatalan majlis tersebut.

Ekoran pembatalan itu, Raja Dr Nazrin mengesyorkan semua 31 wakil DAP, PKR dan PAS menandatangani persetujuan melantik wakil Pasir Panjang itu sebagai MB setelah diperkenan oleh istana.

Sekumpulan rakyat Perak semalam mengadakan tunjuk perasaan membantah kenyataan Lim yang menggesa boikot tersebut - dianggap "menghina" istana.

Dalam kenyataan ringkasnya itu yang boleh diperolehi juga di blognya, Lim berkata tiga wakil setiap parti tersebut diundang ke majlis angkat sumpah hari ini.

Selain beliau sendiri, DAP diwakili pengerusi Perak Ngeh Koo Ham (wakil Sitiawan) dan setiausaha negeri Nga Kor Ming (wakil Pantai Remis).

DAP menguasai 18 kerusi, PKR (tujuh) dan PAS (enam) daripada 59 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) membolehkan tiga parti itu memerintah dengan kelebihan tiga kerusi.

PAS & DAP kiss and make up?

Monday, March 17, 2008
PAS & DAP kiss and make up?
Everything is possible when Heaven wills it!

- Chinese saying … as believed by kaytee (if not true, it’s still damn good)

Based on news report from Malaysiakini & Star Online

Looks like there’s increasing encouraging signs of rapprochement between the two extreme positions in Malaysian political ideologies, namely DAP's and PAS'. The Chinese have always believe that the circle is the perfect as well as dominant structure, so if you back away from each other enough, you are sure to … oops … bump your bum into the other bloke's eventually.

Firstly, we read of Triple joy for Perak as birthday boy Nizar assumes post in the Star Online where suave sweet-mouth smoothie, State DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham said the ceremony to swear in Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak 10th Menteri Besar at the royal town of Kuala Kangsar marked a historic occasion of triple happiness for the state.

“We are celebrating the birth of a prince, the birth of a new state government and the birthday of a new Mentri Besar.”

Wah ;-) for a prudish DAP member, Ngeh does have a few sweet words.

He even ratcheted up the parliamentary process by proposing the creation of a post for Opposition leader – though I am not too sure whether that’s also a subtle twist of the knife in the BN’s side – ha ha ha!

Yes, Malaysiakini tells us that PAS' Nizar (has been) sworn in as Perak MB. Obviously the earlier brouhaha has been consigned to the bin as mere teething problem inclusive of a bit of sandiwara from someone I have already mentioned.

With Ngeh’s new diplomacy, I hope the happy occasion augurs well for both PAS and DAP.

However, Ngeh missed another opportunity to lay it on thick and add on to the goodwill. He should have told Nizar that as the 10th MB of the State, he will be “ong” (lucky and prosperous) as the number “10” means “muah” or complete/perfect.

Even the Chinese newspaper Sin Chew daily has lavished praises on Nizar who unexpectedly turned up at a forum in Ipoh yesterday and drew applause from the mostly 3,000-strong Chinese crowd. Nizar then stunned the crowd by speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, English and Malay at Sin Chew's 'What's Next' political forum.

Aiyah, I am jealous of his linguistic versatility lah. But Nizar has certainly won over the erstwhile-suspicious Perak Chinese.

Meanwhile, in Penang, PAS has come out in defence of Lim Guan Eng’s rather abrupt announcement to discard the NEP without qualifying exactly what he had meant by that. See what I mean by those humourless prudish monk-like DAP people who talk straighter than a ruler – as I once said, you can use Lim GE to calibrate a ruler ;-) but I hope he will learn a few sweet words like Ngeh.

Despite Lim GE’s faux pas, he seemed to have earned the goodwill of not only PAS but Malay welfare group Teras. Its president Azmi Abdul Hamid said the civil society groups were happy with their meeting with Lim.

He stated: "We are glad to have received a reassurance that the interests of the Malays in Penang will not be neglected. The Malays in Penang have been overlooked for far too long, including during the previous state government, and we hope all this will change."

Does its significance strike you? Azmi was virtually saying that under the BN, the Malays in Penang were overlooked. Hmmm, maybe not the UMNO State leaders. Now the ordinary Malays will find the new government is likely to be more fair.

Then the Penang Bumiputra Petty Traders Association virtually told the State UMNO leaders to shut up and stop being asses, and not to politicise the state government’s intention to practice an open tender policy for contracts and projects.

Its chairman Alif Abdul Mutalib Kader added significance to what had happened under the BN when he averred said such a policy would benefit all races, including the Malays.

He said: “Through an open tender policy, we believe there will be equal benefits for all businessmen to have a share in the state’s economic pie. The state Umno leaders should think twice before demonstrating in the streets. They should give the new state government a chance to be transparent and fair in its administration.”

I hope spoiler UMNO will grow up and stop being spoilt brats. Their gravy train has been derailed.

Star Online also reported that Dr Farish Noor, a PAS member and also senior fellow of NTU Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies said in Fear not if NEP is dismantled, Malays told: “There was no suggestion to do away with a welfare system that help Malays in need but a safety net mechanism that will help and protect all Malaysians who are poor on the basis of merit in the DAP's manifesto."

“I think the Opposition managed to win the support of the Malaysian public as a whole including the Malays because it was inclusive and took into account all sections of the society.”

Aiyah, Dr Farish, not ‘Opposition’ liao, but Penang State government lah.

He continued: “It simply promises a fair chance to everyone because many Malaysians, including the Malays, have not been given an equal chance. I am prepared to give them a chance. I want to see the emergence of non-racial politics in Malaysia.”

Another ‘wah’ from kaytee – please read this article from Harakah titled Guan Eng enggan keluar RM100 ribu where Haji Mohamad Sabu, VP of PAS, lavished praises on Lim Guan Eng – told you Lim is not only a straightforward prude but honest as a brand new clean white sheet.

Mohd Sabu said: "Saya rasa sangat terharu mempunyai kawan seperti itu." (I’m moved to have a mate like … Lim).

;-) I hope PAS and DAP don't overdo the mutual admiration society bit ha ha ha! But it's indeed moving to see two 'prudish' strait-laced parties coming to realise they share the values of decency, justice, and integrity.

Oh, PAS is PAS, and DAP is DAP, and wunderbar, the twain did meet - with apologies to Rudyard Kipling ;-)

posted by KTemoc at 6:35 PM

Selangor water agreement to be reviewed (update)


Monday March 17, 2008
MYT 6:02:29 PM, Malaysiakini.

Selangor water agreement to be reviewed (update)

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government will review the agreement signed between the state and Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd allowing the company to operate, manage and maintain the Sungai Sireh water treatment plant in Tanjung Karang.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the agreement signed on March 7 seemed lopsided and would profit Puncak Niaga more than it would the state government or the people of Selangor.

"I have only looked at the agreement for the water treatment plant at a glance recently but it needs to be studied properly before reaching any decision," he told reporters at his official residence here Monday.

He said the matter needed to be discussed at the state executive council level as well before a decision on the next course of action could be made.

Khalid said he had asked the state legal advisor to write to Puncak Niaga and ask that the agreement be declassified so that it could be reviewed.

The signing of the agreement came into question as it was done after the state assembly had been dissolved and only a day before polling day.

State secretary Datuk Ramli Mahmud, who signed the agreement, later explained that the matter had been decided about a year ago and was effective April 1 but the signing of the agreement had been delayed until this year.

On the offer of free water for usage of up to 20 cubic metre in Selangor, Khalid said, it was only a matter of examining the calculations for the water tariff and finding ways to reduce the cost per unit of usage.

"If we can translate it to per unit cost and reduce it by a certain percentage, we can then take the money saved and pass it back to the people by way of free water,” he said.

He said the state government would not then have to pay any subsidies to the water distribution concessionaire Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas).

Khalid had earlier announced that consumers in Selangor will enjoy free water for usage of up to 20 cubic metres starting April.

PAS: Guan Eng will look after Malays too


Monday March 17, 2008

MYT 3:27:46 PM, Malaysiakini.

PAS: Guan Eng will look after Malays too

PENANG: Penang PAS Deputy Commissioner Dr Mujahid Rawa said the Islamist party is fully confident that newly-appointed Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng would look after the interests of Penang Malays.

Among Lim’s first moves after being sworn in as Chief Minister on March 11 was to announce that the state would be run free of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which he claimed had bred cronyism, corruption and systemic inefficiency.

“It is time to move forward. Let us make policies that can benefit all the rakyat," he said, adding that all state government projects and contracts would be awarded through an open-tender policy.

That caused an outcry within certain quarters. On March 14, a group comprising mostly Umno members and supporters took to the streets after Friday prayers to protest his statements on the NEP.

Police managed to disperse the crowd peacefully. No arrests were made but two men were taken in for questioning.

A lawyer also lodged a police report against Lim Guan Eng, alleging that his statements over the NEP were "seditious, racist, irresponsible and may endanger public peace and national security.”

Lim later gave his assurance to Penang Malays that they would not be marginalised.

“When I said that I would run the government administration free of the New Economic Policy (NEP), I emphasised on asking the tender process to be made public.

“I do not think Malay contractors object to the open tender system as it is more transparent. I just want to rectify some of the mistakes committed during the previous administration,” he said after witnessing the swearing-in of his 10 state executive councillors on March 14.

Twenty-two Muslim non-governmental organisations also expressed their support for the state government’s call for transparency in implementing NEP, as has the Penang Bumiputra Petty Traders Association.

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Malay petty traders for open tender policy


Monday March 17, 2008

Malay petty traders for open tender policy

BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Bumiputra Petty Traders Association is appealing to state Umno leaders not to politicise the state government’s intention to practice an open tender policy for contracts and projects.

Its chairman Alif Abdul Mutalib Kader, 64, (pic)said such a policy would benefit all races, including the Malays.

“Through an open tender policy, we believe there will be equal benefits for all businessmen to have a share in the state’s economic pie.

“The state Umno leaders should think twice before demonstrating in the streets. They should give the new state government a chance to be transparent and fair in its administration,” said Alif who came to The Star’s office in Prai yesterday to air the association’s views.

He hoped the state government would upgrade public food courts and trading sites.

“With an open tender policy, we also hope there will be equal opportunities for all races to secure trading lots at markets, hawker centres and night markets,” he said.

Alif also hoped the state could provide soft loans to the association’s members to further expand their businesses.

“With the rising costs of living, many Malays have now turned toward petty trading to source for additional income,” he said.

Nizar angkat sumpah MB Perak


Nizar angkat sumpah MB Perak

Mar 17, 08 1:07pm, Malaysiakini.

Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin hari ini mengangkat sumpah sebagai Menteri Besar Perak yang baru kerajaan campuran DAP, PKR dan PAS

Upacara tersebut berlangsung jam 11.40 pagi tadi di hadapan Pemangku Raja Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah di Istana Iskandariah di Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

Mohammad Nizar, 51, menerima watikah pelantikan sebelum diteruskan dengan majlis mengangkat sumpah jawatan dan taat setia serta sumpah menyimpan rahsia sebagai Menteri Besar yang ke-10.

perak cm mb mohamad nizar jamaluddinMohammad Nizar yang merupakan Setiausaha Badan Perhubungan PAS Perak, menjadi wakil pertama daripada parti selain Umno, yang menyandang jawatan menteri besar di Perak.

Kesemua sembilan menteri besar Perak sebelum ini adalah daripada Umno semasa gabungan Perikatan dan selepas Barisan Nasional (BN) diwujudkan.

Dalam pilihanraya umum 8 Mac lalu, barisan pembangkang itu memenangi 31kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) manakala BN menang 28 kerusi. Ekoran itu, barisan pembangkang tersebut sepakat untuk untuk membentuk kerajaan campuran.

Mohammad Nizar memenangi kerusi DUN Pasir Panjang. Beliau merupakan seorang jurutera perunding lulusan Aston University of Science & Technology di Birmingham, England.

Hari ini juga merupakah hari lahir Mohammad Nizar, selepas majlis itu yang dijadualkan Khamis lalu, terpaksa ditangguhkan kerana DAP, PKR dan PAS tidak mencapai kata sepakat dalam penubuhan kerajaan campuran.

Bernama juga melaporkan, beliau yang berpakaian baju Melayu lengkap berwarna hitam kemudiannya menandatangani surat pelantikan dengan disaksikan oleh Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Ipoh Datuk V. T. Singam.

Hadir sama di istiadat tersebut ialah Raja Dihilir Perak Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, Raja Puan Muda Perak Raja Nor Mahani Raja Shahar Shah, Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Hashim, Mufti Perak Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria, bekas Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali serta wakil anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) daripada kerajaan campuran itu.

Turut hadir di majlis angkat sumpah hari ini adalah pemimpin veteran DAP, Lim Kit Siang; Naib Presiden PAS, Datuk Husam Musa; Pesuruhjaya PAS Perak, Ahmad Awang dan Pengerusi PKR Perak, Zulkifli Ibrahim.

Bertutur banyak bahasa

Semalam, ketika menghadiri sebuah forum di Ipoh, Nizar telah mengejut para hadirin apabila bercakap dalam Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, dan kemudiannya dalam bahasa Inggeris dan bahasa Melayu.

Forum bertajuk "Apa Selepas Ini" adalah anjuran akhbar Guang Ming Daily, Sin Chew Daily, Eye Asia dan Sin Chew-i di Dewan Dou Mu in Ipoh dan dihadiri oleh 3,000 orang.

Mohammad Nizar menyertai PAS pada 1995 dan bertanding kali pertama bagi merebut kerusi parlimen Kuala Kangsar dalam pilihanraya umum 2004 tetapi tewas kepada penyandangnya, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz.

Beliau yang ditemani isterinya Fatimah Taat pada majlis itu, mempunyai lapan orang anak - lima lelaki dan tiga perempuan.

Sepanjang berkecimpung dalam politik bersama PAS, beliau telah memegang beberapa jawatan iaitu bendahari badan perhubungan PAS Perak dan sebagai Yang Dipertua PAS Kampar.

Menteri Besar Perak yang baru itu memulakan persekolahan di Sekolah Rendah Anglo Chinese (ACS) Kampar sebelum meneruskan pendidikan menengah di Sekolah Menengah Anglo Chinese (ACS) Kampar dan Sekolah Menengah Teknik Ipoh, dan menyambung pengajian peringkat A-Level dan ijazah di England.

Beliau memulakan kerjayanya bersama Jabatan Kerja Raya sebelum menjadi jurutera Perbadanan Pembangunan Bandar (UDA) dan Perbadanan Pembangunan Pulau Pinang (PDC).

Cooperation yes, but no hudud law




Cooperation yes, but no hudud law

Posted by kasee
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT
Kong See Hoh

PETALING JAYA (March 17, 2008): DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has accepted a PAS proposal to cooperate but made it clear the party will not accept the Islamic state professed by PAS and the implementation of hudud law, Sin Chew Daily reported today.

He said DAP is reassessing the proposal and considering renewing its cooperation with PAS, in accordance with the wishes of the people.

However, there is one condition - no Islamic state and no hudud law.

He said the results of the general election reflected the wishes of the people for the two party to cooperate, hence DAP would look at the model of cooperation with PAS.

“This model of cooperation with PAS is not confined to the (forming of) state governments of Selangor and Perak,” Lim told the daily in an interview.

“The people have conveyed their wishes for change, (they) hope to see a new government which is above political party and religion. As such, irrespective of the candidates fielded (by the Opposition), the voters will give their support, to hand the Opposition a victory. This showed the hope the people has in the Opposition.”

Lim said DAP had nothing to do with PAS before the general election, but after March 8, DAP was faced with the political reality of having to forge cooperation with PAS lest the Opposition will not be able to form state governments.

He said now DAP can consider the model of cooperation with PAS but one thing remains unchanged - DAP’s stand against the Islamic state ideology, the implementation of hudud law and any Islamisation policy.

He said DAP would not let the people down in striving for a fair, democratic and just society because the people has asked for change through the ballot box.
But if DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and PAS cannot cooperate, then nothing will change, he said. - THE SUN

Leaders should watch out for next tsunami

Leaders should watch out for next tsunami

AB Sulaiman | Mar 17, 08 4:28pm, Malaysiakini.

The political tsunami hitting Malaysia last weekend reminds me very much of the popular tale of the frog that cuddles comfortably in a cauldron of water. The frog feels so comfortable that it has not detected that the water is warming up by a fire coming from under the cauldron. The rate of warming is slow, so the frog does not detect the rising temperature. Until it is too late when it realises the water temperature is too hot for its comfort and has to jump out in great shock.

The March 8, 2008 political tsunami is somewhat like the rising temperature in the cauldron. The Barisan Nasional (read that as Umno, and more specifically, Ketuanan Melayu, or just Malay) mindset has been too comfortable riding the wave of popularity, and for so very long (fifty years), so much so that it has taken the population (especially the Malay segment) for granted, and dis not detect the appearance of hate, disenchantment and detestation simmering and growing on the part of the population. Until it is too late.

And so now what do we have? We have this momentous tsunami taking place in the form of the 12th general elections. What has hit the Ketuanan Melayu polity is in actual fact more than just political, it is a psychological tsunami. By definition the Ketuanan Melayu, Malay, Umno, and Barisan Nasional (in this context they are arguably synonymous to one another) mindsets have been going about controlling the reins of the country with the traditional mindsets of yesterday. They rest on the ethnocentric platform of ‘Untuk Agama, Bangsa dan Negara.’ With this they went way beyond reason to protect and propagate the sanctity of Islam, and similarly the elitism of the Malay culture, without paying too much respect to the views and sensitivities of the other communities.

The Malays, in the meantime, were treated like a father treating his favourite son, showering the child with a lot of goodies in the form of subsidies and a long list of affirmative action programmes. Their minds are carefully nurtured to be conservative and in conformity with the status quo. Mainly the child is nurtured and groomed to remain as a child, never allowed to grow into adulthood. The child is spoilt rotten.

All along and very much like the Malay proverb macam tikus jatuh ke beras (like a mouse falling into a sack of rice) the leadership helped itself to the fats of the country involving obscene, ugly and astronomical amounts. All along the non-Malays were treated like enemies as witnessed by the nonchalant way the ulama term all non-Muslim as ‘enemies of Islam’. More than that, it became very complacent, arrogant, immoral, irrational, and totally unprofessional with its leadership performance and accompanied by a deterioration of quality.

Lord Acton’s dictum that power corrupts with absolute power corrupting absolutely comes to the fore. The tsunami then hits with a force far beyond even what the opposition parties had ever anticipated.

This psychological tsunami should be a wake up call to the complacent Barisan Nasional/Umno/ Ketuanan Melayu/Malay mindset. Commentators and columnists have inundated the media, especially the Internet, suggesting ways and means on how this composite Ketuanan Melayu mindset can redeem itself. The writings by Azly Rahman, Ong Kian Ming, for example, are excellent in their analysis and presentation.

I shall limit my contribution by saying that the Malaysian social, economic and political environments have changed since fifty years ago. The people are more educated, urbanised, and are enjoying a higher standard of living. They travel more often to more distant places. More importantly people read more and think more. They are more literate. They are more equipped and able to conceptualise about new ideas and new things around them. People are more matured, more ready to think of alternatives. They are not afraid of alternatives.

Coming back to the frog analogy, the people - and this include very moderate and liberal Malays - are ready to venture out from the Known to the Unknown. Put all these elements together and we have a population being more aware and more knowledgeable of things happening around them. We have a population with a declining group orientation, and taken over by a developed sense of the individual. They would require a leadership as aware and as knowledgeable as them.

The Ketuanan Melayu incumbents should pay heed to this new breed of individual-orientated Malaysians (Malays included) who have their own minds, and mainly have faith, trust, and confidence in their own judgments. Should the leaders not change as well so as to be at par with the people’s mindset, they will not be effective leaders. In such an unfortunate mismatch situation, it is tantamount to an invitation for another more damaging tsunami to come. Ketuanan Melayu culture would surely be drowned by the sheer force of this tsunami.

Malaysiakini should be free to all

Malaysiakini should be free to all

A Malaysiakini Fan | Mar 17, 08 4:22pm, Malaysiakini.

With all due respect, I would like to point out that one of the biggest reason BN was defeated was because of the Internet. Without the advent of the Internet, the news would not have spread fast nor will the voters have come out to do their duty. Therefore, I do not advice that you make Malaysiakini a subscription-based site.

In fact, what I would recommend is for Malaysiakini to take the advantage of the situation and use its traffic to get revenue from advertising instead. This way, readers can still come to your site for the latest political developments and you can still fund your site.

It is absolutely crucial that you do not restrict readers from reading the content on your website just because they are not a paying member. Have you ever considered that you have readers from overseas that is interested in investing in Malaysia? They do not necessarily want to be a paying member because they do not live in Malaysia. Rather, they visit your website for information regarding the political climate in our beloved country.

If the reasons above still have not moved you, how about this - what about your competition? Do you honestly believe that Malaysiakini will be the only site in Malaysia that can deliver political news? I believe BN has the funds and capability to launch their own website as well - for free. You will also have other competitors beside BN/Umno.

Therefore, while you still have a large fan base, think of ways to keep your site alive and readers coming. Instead of just taking the easy way out by makeing your readers pay, you should be more creative in your solutions like what I had mentioned above. Get ad revenue via traffic to your site or set up a channel for donations.

I apologise if what I have said has offended Malaysiakini. I just wanted you (the management of Malaysiakini) to reconsider the approach you are taking. There is a huge revenue potential in your site and also in your fan base. You are also serving the interest of the Malaysians by letting them have a medium to keep up with political events in the country.

Think about Malaysiakini being the only site to go for political news here in Malaysia. I sincerely urge Malaysiakini’s management to rethink its approach.

Voting: Elderly marginalised

Voting: Elderly marginalised

Natalie Shobana Ambrose | Mar 17, 08 4:22pm, Malaysiakini.

After 50 years of independence and 11 general elections, I was hoping that this year my grandma would be able to cast her vote without a fuss even though she uses a walker. At 89 years old, walking up the narrow staircase of a school building is probably as difficult as climbing Mount Everest at the age of 25.

At the last elections (2004), my grandmother was told that the room she had to vote in was upstairs. As it is her right to vote, she climbed those stairs with the help of her son. This year, I volunteered to take her in the hopes that maybe the powers-that-be would have wisened up and allocated a room on the ground floor with easy access for the disabled and elderly.

When we reached her polling station on Saturday, we waited an hour for a wheelchair but none came. After asking for help, they managed to change her voting room to the another room claiming that the one allocated upstairs was an oversight.

But then there was another problem. They had made another mistake - from giving her room which was upstairs, to giving her room a which was further away and in an elevated classroom with steps. No ramp, no help- just a loud mouth SPR representative and his assistants watching and twisting stories to a TV3 crew of why my grandma was still waiting to vote.

As we were leaving, one of these assistants asked if grandma has voted and I said yes and I continued to tell him that the last time she had to walk upstairs, this time after one and a half hours she'd been pushed between three rooms to vote at and finally the voting room was the furthest possible and without a ramp. His response? ‘We'll note this for the next elections.’ My response? ‘What did you learn from the last election?’

I wanted to continue with the ‘If she was your grandmother….’ but decided it would be wasted breath. This is most likely the last time she will cast her vote after having done so 12 times.

Maybe it sounds very personal. After all it's just one vote. I'd like to think that her vote makes a difference. She's at an age where she doesn't vote for herself - she voted for the future her great-grandchildren will inherit.

The radio advertisement said that it is our right to vote but how can we if there are so many obstacles? Fifty years since independence, 11 runs at general elections and we still can't seem to get it right.

Selangor performance a vital benchmark

Selangor performance a vital benchmark

Richard Teo | Mar 17, 08 4:30pm, Malaysiakini.

The opposition capture of the Selangor state is an important milestone. Many, including the opposition, did not expect such a prized windfall. DAP alone could not have accomplished the feat and neither could PAS and PKR achieved such success if not for the fact that there was complete trust and cooperation among these three parties.

Despite the absence of a pact between DAP and PAS, there was obvious mutual benefit in the voting pattern. The Chinese on this occasion had no qualms voting for PAS and vice-versa there were Malay votes cast for DAP in the respective areas contested. This indirectly translated into Malay votes for DAP and Chinese votes for PAS.

That perhaps explains the good results for both parties in mixed areas where Chinese and Malay voters were contesting with BN candidates. Similarly in areas where the Chinese and Malays were minorities, the votes cast for DAP and PAS respectively made the difference.

Having accomplished the task of taking Selangor, it is of vital importance that a new transparent way of administering the state government be prioritised. In this regard, the best person to initiate such a task would be Anwar Ibrahim.

His years spent in many of the portfolios as a minister would put him in good stead to introduce reforms that would be a departure from the previous administration. For a start, he has advised the incoming state assemblymen not to indulge in wasteful expenditure for renovations and the purchase of new cars for their use.

This is a refreshing start and if other similar measures can be introduced the rakyat can immediately see some tangible change.

For Anwar to be Selangor menteri besar, there needs to be a by-election and one of the state assemblypersons has to make way for him. It will be a sacrifice for the person concerned but it will be a worthwhile sacrifice when we consider that the success or failure of Selangor under the opposition will determine the future survival of the three opposition parties.

For the moment, they have achieved an important milestone in capturing the five states but whether their success can be perpetuated in the next election will depends on the success or failure in the governance of the five states.

Malaysian voters only elect 'symbols'

Malaysian voters only elect 'symbols'

Ganesan Doraisami | Mar 17, 08 4:22pm, Malaysiakini.

In a fair elections, people will be empowered with knowledge. In an unfair election, people will be reminded of May 13, 1969. It is not a fair election if the opposition were not given equal time and space in many of Malaysia’s public media.

All the major newspapers such as Utusan Malaysia, New Strait Times, The Star and Berita Harian did not cover the opposition’s point of view or publish them without any censorship. Most of these newspapers instead pandered to the Barisan Nasional even though anything they print lost credibility immediately. How much time was given over television and radio for opposition parties?

None of the opposition candidates got mainstream coverage from RTM, the government radio and television channel. The reporters of all the newspapers (if they published opposition viewpoints) chose their words carefully to diminish the opposition further.

The true message of the opposition was distorted or not reported at all. Malaysian journalism has never been able to free itself and be an independent voice for the Malaysian voters.

Until the journalists are free and able to represent the people and question the government, Malaysian elections will not fair and true. The system is corrupt to its core and any patch or Band-aid will not help. Malaysians have to start from ground up and build a 21st century government that will represent all equally.

Should voters apologise to Penang Umno?

Should voters apologise to Penang Umno?

Concerned Netizen | Mar 17, 08 4:30pm, Malaysiakini.

The Malaysian electorate has been naughty. They have been ungrateful and need to be taught a lesson. At least that's how it comes across when you read about the press conference given by Penang state Umno leaders last Thursday.

Here we have people elected into office to bring out the best things for their state and country. But instead, those from Umno have banded together to teach the people of Penang a lesson. As quoted from The Sun, ‘Penang assemblyman Datuk Azhar Ibrahim, who is opposition leader, said he will apply to the federal government to stop all mega projects such as the Penanag second bridge, Monorail Transit System, Penang Outer Ring Road and to leave Penang out of the Northern Corridor Economic Region scheme.

"He told a press conference the Barisan National government had promised all these to the people, but yet they rejected the BN government by voting for DAP and PKR. 'Let them see what DAP and PKR can do for them,' he said.

What do they expect Penang voters to do? Are they supposed to say, ‘I'm so sorry for exercising my right to choose. I promise I won't do it again. Just don't punish us, please! You can do whatever you want in the government! You are so right! We have no right to hold you accountable. Please don't cut off our state funds! We'll behave ourselves next time and fall into line!’

Yes, let us see what the new Penang government can do. It's bound to be better than what we've seen for the last 50 years. When you've gone so far down, with change, there's only room for improvement, no matter how small it may be.

Even now, when they should be taking responsibility, reflecting upon and working to improve their performance, Penang Umno remains arrogant and unrepentant. It's not surprising because a large portion of Umno is doing the same thing all over the nation. The interesting thing is that in BN, we see Umno whining the most and the loudest.

We see the likes of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Hishammuddin Huessin Onn trying to whip up racial sentiments about Penang's open tender system. We have Mohd Khir Toyo making sarcastic and bitter comments about working with the new state government. And now these 11 Umno state assemblypersons in Penang. T

They only know how to think about race and themselves. When relating to the electorate, they only know how to use fear tactics and threats. They don't know how to discuss things constructively, offer compromises and work cooperatively with others. They have no game plan for where to go from here. They don't seem to be interested in changing anything, despite a strong tide of rejection. They're too busy moaning over what they've lost, squabbling over what's left and plotting ways to get revenge.

Everyone keeps talking about watching the new state governments and parliamentarians closely to be sure they keep their promises. But even more so, we must watch BN closely for signs of humility and change. We must keep track of how BN reps vote in parliament. When bills for local council elections, civil liberties and judicial, parliamentary and electoral reform, etc. (things the rakyat voted for in this election) come up in Parliament, how did the MPs vote?

Let's keep track of who votes for or against these things. Let's keep track of who submits the bills, what sort of amendments are suggested and who is suggesting them. Will the BN reps suggest any bills for change in these areas? Will the bills be quality legislation or some kind of watered-down appeasement for the electorate? Will BN reps continue to vote along party lines even if they know they are voting against the wishes of the people?

And what about the state governments controlled by BN? What sort of changes are they going to make? Are they just going to keep to the old habit of touting state development as the answer for everything? Will they take steps to improve transparency and accountability?

Just as there will be a website keeping track of tenders for Penang, there should be website keeping track of the actions of our MPs and state reps. Then we will know who truly deserves to be voted into office at the next election. I honestly hope that four years from now, the electorate will not have collective amnesia and vote these guys into office if they are still the same as today.

We need to see BN make changes. Maybe the component parties of MCA and MIC and others should leave BN and work toward forming one multi-racial party without Umno. They might want to seriously consider this option if Umno doesn't start doing some soul-searching soon. Time is ticking away to the next election and they have a lot of work to do to regain the people's confidence or they could be completely wiped out the next time - completely.

And if you voted for the following Umno candidates for Penang - Mahmud Zakaria, Syed Amerruddin Syed Ahamad, Muhamad Farid Saad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Azahar Ibrahim, Roslan Saidin, Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Shabudin Yahaya, Jasmin Mohamed, Jahara Hamid and Zakariah Abdul Wahab - please consider voting for people who actually have the best interests of the rakyat in mind.

Who will rescue Sarawak?

Who will rescue Sarawak?

Al Tugauw | Mar 17, 08 4:30pm, Malaysiakini.

Why is Sarawak still 30 years behind Malaya? When Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore joined Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963, it is unfortunate that Sarawak's leaders then did not have the foresight to reserve the state's oil and gas resources for the state itself.

Perhaps this was also a good thing, otherwise Sarawak's oil and gas resources could also have been plundered by its own leaders, like its timber and land resources now, without any real benefit to the bulk of the ordinary people of the state.

Today, Malaya has the Petronas Twin Towers, the North-South Highway and many other highways, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, the F1 Circuit and many, many other multi-billion ringgit projects and their spin-offs which put its far ahead in terms of development compared to Sarawak. The bulk of these projects would not have been possible if not for the contributions from the oil and gas resources of Sarawak (and also Sabah for that matter).

In any event, much of the so-called development in Sarawak has not really benefitted the vast majority of its rural people except marginally. What happened to the so-called ‘Politics of Development’ propounded by the leader who does not want to give up his position, Taib Mahmud, the erstwhile chief minister of Sarawak?

Unfortunately for the people, they have been fooled by only a semblance of development. True development continues to elude the bulk of the state’s population.

Surely Sarawak with its vast oil and gas, timber and land resources could have done a lot better in terms of development over the last 30-plus years? Yet the sad fact is that as far as the rural areas of the state are concerned, those 30 years have been a period of lost opportunities for the people and of vicious exploitation by a few huge family, family-related and crony companies.

Have these people really given back anything much to the people in return, other than some crumbs and even that grudgingly? The rural people in the mean time do not know any better and continue to support a corrupt, inept, exploitative and divisive government whose programmes do nothing more than regard them as trespassers or squatters on their own land and trap the people in a vicious cycle of poverty.

The whole political, legislative, administrative and economic process in the State has been hijacked by all means, mainly foul, to maintain this corrupt regime in power at the total expense of the people, who are fed lies and all kinds of misinformation in the name of governance and government.

The federal government in the meantime, the chief beneficiary of the state's oil and gas wealth, keeps quiet, a dreadful silence that will condemn the downtrodden and excluded rural people of Sarawak to another 30 years of lost opportunities, unfair practices, injustice, exploitation, corruption, waste, mismanagement and inefficiency.

Perhaps it is time for the people of the state to follow the lead of the rakyat of Malaya and take their destiny in their own hands and change the government of the state in the next state elections due in or before 2011. It is time for Taib Mahmud's head to roll.

Can the DAP govern as well as it can oppose?


Can the DAP govern as well as it can oppose?

Khoo Kay Peng | Mar 17, 08 4:30pm, Malaysiakini.

When Dr Lim Chong Eu formed Gerakan with a few political activists in 1968, he saw an opportune time to unite opposing forces to take on the mighty Alliance in the 1969 general election. His party succeeded in Penang and wrested the state government from MCA by a two-thirds majority.

In 2008, DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng achieved the same feat in Penang. His party won 19 out of 19 seats it contested in the state assembly and swept up all seven parliamentary seats. This time, Gerakan was at the receiving end. It lost its seats in Penang to both DAP and PKR (13 state and four parliamentary seats).

But Dr Lim had a head start before he was made the chief minister of Penang in 1969. He had served in the state legislative council under the colonial government several years before independence. His good performance as a legislative councillor was the defining factor which won him solid grassroots support and respect from locals.

His experience and understanding of multifarious issues faced by the community helped Dr Lim to plan for his leadership direction in Penang. To succeed, he knew that his administration had to create enough jobs for the people. Unemployment was almost 15 percent. The only way was to transform Penang's economy from being agriculture based into an industrial powerhouse.

Unlike Dr Lim, the fourth chief minister Lim Guan Eng does not have a similar depth of understanding of issues affecting the state. His politician father, Lim Kit Siang, has been residing in Penang since 1986 but since his 1999 electoral defeat, the elder Lim spends most of his time in Petaling Jaya and Ipoh. Lim only frequented Penang slightly more than a year ago to plan for his eventual political move to Penang. His move, as a strategy to revive the flagging fortunes of DAP in Penang, turned out to be a fruitful one.

However, unlike Dr Lim, Lim will have to do a lot of preparatory work to get to know the state, community associations, chambers of commerce, multinationals, state civil servants and others. This process of consultation and dialogues may take him more than a year to fully understand the issues besetting the state. Lim, a non-native, may face an arduous task trying win over the factional Chinese community associations and other ethnic-oriented associations.

He must be made aware that a number of local personalities were involved in the just concluded general election, not as candidates but king-makers and lobbyists for certain politicians. These personalities will try to get close to him to forge a new alliance. Without adequate local knowledge, he may be sucked into their factional tussle.

The next challenge he faces is to put a team of executive councillors who are knowledgeable, innovative, credible and able to lead. His team of 19 assemblymen consists of qualified individuals and largely first-timers. As an opposition party, their ability to oppose is indisputable but to govern there is a need for a mindset change. Even Lim has to readjust to his new role as a chief minister who is expected to deliver economic growth and prosperity to a 'dynamic' Penang he promised his electorates.

Like Dr Lim, Lim is voted in at a time when Penang economy is losing its lustre and competitiveness. He is expected to wave his magic wand similar to what Dr Lim did for Penang by bringing in high-technology investment into Penang.

On the economy, it is not clear who among the 19 state assemblymen can be entrusted to play a leading role. Dr P Ramasamy, an academician, may look like the best candidate but he is a political scientist and not an economist. A person managing the economic portfolio should also understand the dynamics and fundamentals of global economy and knowledge economy.

The same goes for all other portfolios eg, education, human capital, tourism and culture, public transport and infrastructure, housing and local government et cetera. It is time for his young and energetic team to show that they can run the state as well as they can 'bash up' Umno.

What is certain is that Lim must wake to the reality of leading and managing one of the most demanding states in Malaysia. If Kelantanese voters are unpredictable, Penangites are known to be very brutal. They kicked out MCA in 1969 and 1990 for its inability to stand up for the Chinese community. Their love affair with Gerakan was similarly truncated in 2008. By now, DAP should know that the Penang voters are very decisive when they’ve made up their mind.

Can Lim Guan Eng measure up to Dr Lim Chong Eu? Pundits and critics are awaiting their judgement slightly more than two years from now when they measure the mid-term performance of the DAP led government. Just like how Lim Kit Siang put it, two years is a fair period to measure an administration’s effectiveness and success.

DAP has played an effective opposition role, can it perform similarly as a government?

BN needs to reinvent itself


BN needs to reinvent itself

Posted by kasee
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT

Wong Chin Huat

PETALING JAYA (March 17, 2008): As ironical as it can be, Gerakan’s election slogan “reinventing” is now the remedy Barisan Nasional (BN) needs.

The niche of BN’s rule has always been its powering-sharing formula: Malay dominance with minority representation. The formula is now under threat.

In 2004, BN’s 199 parliamentary seats were shared in a manner reflecting the weights of communities. The Muslim-dominant parties (Umno and PBB) held 61% against non-Muslim parties’ 39%. The parties represented the populous West Malaysia (including Umno’s Sabah chapter) held 81% against East Malaysian parties’ 19%.

Peninsula parties in decline
The 2008 elections have effectively reduced BN to a coalition of Umno (56% of BN seats) and East Malaysian parties (29%).

Geographically, the nation is divided into two along a northwest-south fault line that cuts through the peninsula. Except for the enclaves of Perlis and Putrajaya, anywhere west of Terengganu, and north of Pahang and Negri Sembilan is opposition territory.

The four peninsula non-Muslim parties were left with just 14% (see chart). Their relevance, if not survival, is at stake.

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was worst hit, losing both its sole parliamentary and sole state seat that it contested. Once a strong regional party in Perak, it was deserted by its supporters after joining BN in 1974. Without any front bench, party president M. Kayveas' plan to revive PPP is now effectively history.

Gerakan, after being uprooted from its power base in Penang, may just follow PPP’s path to decline. Once the favourite for professionals and the middle-class who prefer multi-ethnic politics and working within the system, it is doubtful the party can keep its appeal with only two MPs and four state assemblymen.

MIC was not much better than Gerakan. Winning only three federal and six state seats, the party is bound to lose some of its federal front bench positions.

MCA survived best among the four but its seats were halved from 31 to 15. The number is so small that it could not fill all 18 front bench and speaker positions in the old cabinet line-up. The latest news has it that it will only get about 10 or 11 positions.

Ethnic representation discourse backfires
BN has long asserted that the non-Malay communities must vote BN to keep their representation in the government. During this election, MCA and MIC pushed this point aggressively in media advertisements whereas Gerakan capitalised on the fear of Penang’s Chinese to lose the Chinese chief minister there.

Such discourse backfired. With representation in the government being the only reason why the Chinese and Indians must support BN, instead of policy platforms, the non-Malays now have better reasons to support the federal opposition.

With the opposition controlling four west-coast state seats, the non-Malays are bound to keep one chief minister (Penang) and two exco-members (Kedah) while gaining two deputy mentris besar (MBs) in Perak and even one in Selangor where there were none in the last 50 years.

With the unprecedented appointment of Chinese and Indian deputy MBs/CM in Penang and Perak, both the Chinese and Indian votes are locked in for DAP and PKR in the next elections. Similarly, the opposition parties are likely to keep, if not increase, non-Malay support in Selangor.

The rule of the game
The trouble for BN is that as the ruling coalition now loses its multi-ethnic character, the Opposition has become increasingly national.

In 2004, DAP dominated the seats while PAS led in popular votes, leaving PKR squeezed in the centre.

In sharp contrast, the Opposition delegation in the 12th Parliament will be well-balanced. The middle-of-the-road Keadilan emerges as the big brother with 31 seats, followed by DAP’s 28 seats and PAS’ 23 seats (see Chart 2).

Unless the Opposition messes up in the states it controls, it is unlikely to have a pendulum effect for the next elections, at least not among the non-Malays.

Instead, the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim typhoon may go on and sweep more non-Malay votes in Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Pahang and Johor.

Thanks to the First-Past-the-Post electoral system, even if the victory is wafer-thin, BN’s Chinese- and Indian-based parties may be wiped out in other states as they were this time around in Penang. The expected constituency redelineation in 2010, only affecting six states and Kuala Lumpur, may not be able to save them.

For the past 50 years, Malaysians – including Malays – had been convinced by the Alliance/BN that no government can govern the country without taking on board every ethnic community. Such perception is also shared by foreign investors and tourists.

A virtual extermination of peninsula non-Malay parties will therefore make a BN government untenable even if Umno coupled with East Malaysian parties manage to secure a simple majority. Such scenarios may trigger defection of East Malaysian or even Umno parliamentarians.

The ways to heal divisions
While some leaders in Umno and MCA are demanding that heads roll for their dismal performance, problems will not go away with merely the change of leadership. The problems are so large that they demand a BN solution rather than an Umno, MCA and MIC solution.

The electoral debacles suggest that the old tactic of divide and rule no longer works. Malaysians are moving away from ethnic politics. Unless BN also heads towards that direction, it will not be able to arrest the decline of MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP.

Colossal as it may be, the most important task for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to heal Malaysia’s divisions is to first transform the coalition into a single party. Falling short of that, BN should consolidate at least into two parties: one consisting of Umno and PBB; the other of all other parties.

Only with a renewed structure, may Umno arrest the attrition of non-Malays/non-Muslims to keep itself relevant.

Such consolidation will allow BN to make bold policy moves before the Opposition does. The election shows that BN has lost the hearts and minds of not only the non-Malays, but also that of many urban Malays.

It needs to win more support from middle-lower Malays and at the same time address the non-Malays’ dissatisfaction.

Some forms of welfare state to replace bumiputeraism is not inevitable. The fate of the race-based affirmative action programme was effectively sealed on March 8.

Now, the race is open to both sides of the divide to offer a “new deal”. Whoever makes the case first and convincingly will build a new social coalition to win the next election.

If both sides make serious efforts towards that, Malaysia will finally see healthy two-party or three-party competition. Otherwise, a powerful government – likely a new one – with two-thirds majority in Parliament will be restored.

There are important lessons to take home from Penang. For one, “reinventing” may be a bad slogan for a ruling party short on dynamism. However, had it been an overall strategy instead of a sound-bite, it might have been life-saving.

Just as power breeds corruption, complacency breeds disaster. - THE SUN

Wong Chin Huat is a journalism lecturer in Monash University, Sunway campus (Malaysia). He is completing his PhD in University of Essex on electoral system and party politics in West Malaysia, 1982-2004. He is co-editing a book on Malaysia’s 2004 elections.

Activists say rigging stopped opposition winning M'sia vote

Activists say rigging stopped opposition winning M'sia vote

Posted by kasee
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - MALAYSIAN election reform activists on Monday called for an investigation into March 8 polls, saying the opposition would have won outright if voting was clean and fair.

The Barisan Nasional coalition's near-total domination of national and state politics ended in the general elections, with the opposition seizing more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats and four more states.

The unprecedented gains came despite widespread claims of fraud and vote-rigging, and fury over the cancellation of plans to use indelible ink to prevent multiple balloting.

'We are calling for a royal commission to investigate the electoral process,' said Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) leader Sivarasa Rasiah.

'Just because the opposition won big does not mean the election was free and fair,' he said.

Bersih, an alliance of opposition parties and civil society groups, organised several rallies to highlight claims that Malaysia's electoral process is rigged.

The opposition alliance of the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP), the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's Keadilan won 82 of the 222 seats in parliament.

'We would have had an outright win if this were a free and fair election,' said Keadilan's Sivarasa, who was elected to parliament.

'To win another 30 seats (to form a majority in parliament) all we needed was just another 56,000 votes,' he said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said ahead of the polls that Malaysians would be denied a free-and-fair vote, accusing the government of muzzling the opposition and manipulating the electoral process. - THE STRAITS TIMES

Khalid announces free household water and lopsided water deal


Khalid announces free household water and lopsided water deal

Posted by kasee
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT

By : V. Shankar Ganesh

SHAH ALAM, Mon: In his first Press conference as Selangor Mentri Besar today, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim made two key announcements: the first 20 cubic metres of water is free to all Selangor households from April, and the eve of polling day water treatment plant deal between Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and Selangor Government is lopsided to the concessionaire’s advantage.
The free water concession would be discussed first by the Exco before it could be implemented but it was to fulfill a PKR election campaign promise, he said. “This could be achieved if cost was lowered so that revenue was channeled back to consumers,” he said. “To achieve this, review of all water agreements are expected.”

Khalid said the state legal adviser had been told to write to the company to declassify documents as his calculations showed that profits derived from water revenue was more to their advantage. “There is imbalance in the revenue given to the State and the people. It can only enrich the concessionaire” he told a Press conference at his official residence here for the first time.

Khalid said he had only seen the agreement at a glance and that he had to study it further.
The water deal was for Puncak Niaga to operate, manage and maintain the raw water intake and treatment plant situated on land beside a canal near Sungai Sireh, Tanjung Karang in Kuala Selangor.

While the deal was signed on March 7, the actual contract itself took effect on April 1, 2007 and was concluded pursuant to Clause 3(a) (vi) of the Concession Agreement dated Dec 15, 2004, between the Federal government, the state government and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), for a concession period of twenty-seven (27) years, commencing on April 1, 2007 and expiring on April 30, 2034. - NST

Gerakan Floored On Last Question


Gerakan Floored On Last Question

Posted by kasee
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT


The Opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) is now enjoying the electoral euphoria that the Gerakan experienced on May 10, 1969, but the latter was summarily consigned to political oblivion after a period of slightly less than 39 years.

A succinct difference between the respective Gerakan and DAP victories of 1969 and 2008 may be this: The Gerakan won on a positive vote while the DAP won on a negative vote. To elaborate, the vote for the Gerakan was a vote for the then Dr (now Tun) Lim Chong Eu to be the next Chief Minister. The vote for the DAP was a vote against Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon for what he himself termed as his "intangible" successes.

The 2008 decision was never a vote for the colourful Lim Guan Eng as the successor to the colourless Tsu Koon. Lim, an accountant trained in Australia’s prestigious Monash University, showed his formidable character when he gamely took the fall, was imprisoned for 18 months on a legal technicality for championing the cause of a Malay girl who was allegedly raped by a senior politician in Malacca, and was consequently denied electoral participation for the next five years according to Malaysian law after being declared guilty.

Last Question

The last question that the Penang electorate posed in the 1969 election was never asked, simply because the Gerakan could not present a name after putting up incumbent Deputy Information Minister Chia Kwang Chye as an alternative to Tsu Koon, who was being fielded for the parliamentary seat of Batu Kawan.

The above observation is drawn from the historical fact that the last question put to the then Opposition Gerakan before Penangites voted in 1969 was who its Chief Minister would be. When the Gerakan responded in the then The Straits Echo that it would be the State’s famous son Chong Eu, the unique Penang swing began. The Straits Echo, billed as the second oldest English language newspaper east of Suez, has since closed down as The National Echo.

"From there on, according to insiders, the Gerakan never recovered from this self-inflicted fracture, but lost its cohesiveness as a political party."

It was never lost on Penangites that Chong Eu, himself an overseas-trained medical doctor, was the scion of a famous Penang family. Indeed, Penangites take pride in the fact that while the Gerakan had Chong Eu, the left-leaning Socialist Front had England-trained lawyer Lim Kean Siew (since deceased) and the previous Alliance administration led by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) had England-trained lawyer David Choong Ewe Leong. All three are scions of landed gentry in the State. David Choong, who was an All England doubles champion in his time, is now comatose.

Interestingly, this opening gambit of the Gerakan during the heat of the election was simply outmaneuvered when a so-called Chinese clan leader was inspired to assert that Kwang Chye was unacceptable to the Penang Chinese Town Hall because he was not Chinese-educated!
What was conveniently forgotten in the maneuver inspired by the intense Gerakan infighting was that Chong Eu was never Chinese-educated when he assumed office as Chief Minister of Penang in 1969. Nonetheless, this episode brought to the fore the reduced leadership role of the English-educated Chinese not just in Penang, but also throughout the country. Significantly, the MCA, another component of the ruling National Front, met reverses after it ignored the English-educated in its line-up.

Almost reeling from this self-induced shock, Tsu Koon not only bandied three names – incumbent State Executive Councillors Dr Teng Hock Nan and Teng Chang Yeow as well as parliamentary secretary Lee Kah Choon who was being fielded in the blue ribbon Gerakan state seat of Machang Bubuk – but purportedly left the decision on which of the three to National Front president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Glaring Failure

This glaring Gerakan failure played right into the hands of the DAP. It lent credence to the oft-denied DAP view that Tsu Koon never wielded power. That DAP message boomeranged when it was put in the clumsy DAP slogan of “CM with power” when Guan Eng’s father, Opposition icon Lim Kit Siang, made his previous bid for power in the State. Kit Siang’s bid proved abortive after the National Front then responded by stating that Kit Siang was “gila pangkat” or power crazy.

That was in the previous election. In the present one, the DAP not only made political capital out of the Gerakan mis-step on the “required” Chinese education background for the Penang chief ministership and what the Penang Hokkiens simply punned on the trio as the “tua teng, kah seh teng boh lee” or “Big Teng or small Teng, no play” – a Hokkien saying that also meant a big car and small car, and lee (Kah Choon’s surname), meaning play – it was able to win the state chief executive’s job by stealth since it never had to respond to the last question.

Perhaps unknown even to the DAP leaders, this signal failure that Tsu Koon committed spelled the end of cooperation between the three competitors he named for the top job. Worse still, it is understood to also have led to Tsu Koon, a Hokkien Chinese, being threatened by an incumbent Teo Chew (or Ching Chow, a dialectic group) leader with a loss of the significant Teo Chew votes in his Batu Kawan parliamentary constituency.

From there on, according to insiders, the Gerakan never recovered from this self-inflicted fracture, but lost its cohesiveness as a political party.

Lost Vision

From this 2008 general election, the Opposition DAP now has a period four to five years' opportunity to translate the stated negative vote into a positive one. If Guan Eng can provide a stable Government and perform up to Penang expectations, it should continue to hold power at the State level.

Of course, the 2008 Malaysian general election has proved that the Gerakan lost its evangelical drive after nearly 39 years, even with its opting in 1973 to become part of the ruling National Front coalition.

It had earlier perceived to have lost the vision of Gerakan founder Chong Eu of making Georgetown, billed as the first and oldest Chinatown in the world by a well-known television programme, into a thriving city. Instead, Georgetown became a ghost city, underscoring the growing social gap betwen Tsu Koon and his illustrious household name predecessor.

This ugly spectre of empty reclaimed houses came after the Sir John Maynard Keynes-inspired post-war rent-control measures were dismantled in 1999 or thereabouts. The way the policy was implemented – with no alternative housing for many of the dislocated who were left homeless – virtually exposed the political dissonance of the Gerakan-led State Government under the leadership of Tsu Koon.

It is common knowledge that while Penang can provide the maternity hospital of aspiring political leaders and their parties, it can also act as a cemetery for them. The Tsu Koon-led Gerakan is Penang’s latest casualty. (By Stephen Tan)

The author is a former journalist who now practises law in Penang

Why Anwar Matters


Why Anwar Matters

Posted by Raja Petra
Monday, 17 March 2008,MT


A number of factors contributed to rising discontent amongst Malaysians across racial divides, including rising crime, a slowing economy, a number of very public corruption scandals and increased oil prices. In addition, increasing discontent emanated from the minority Chinese and Indian communities over the pro-Malay NEP.

by Firas Ahmad, FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW

Less than 10 years ago former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was languishing in prison, suffering from arsenic poisoning surreptitiously introduced into his drinking water. Mr. Anwar was sacked after challenging the rule of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed. Jailed on what he claimed to be politically motivated charges of sodomy and corruption, not only was Mr. Anwar’s political career apparently over, but his life was in danger. Only after his family secretly smuggled blood samples out of the country to confirm the poisoning were steps taken to ensure his health.

Fast forward to March 8, 2008. Even though he remains unable to stand for election until April of 2008 due to his previous incarceration, the Anwar-led opposition coalition dealt a stunning blow to the ruling Barisan National (BN) Party, breaking its decades-old super majority control of parliament. To call it a “comeback” would be an understatement. While the BN continues to hold a simple majority, a tectonic shift has taken place in Malaysian politics, and it was in many ways engineered by Mr. Anwar.

The last time the ruling BN party failed to secure a super majority in parliament was 1969. Following the elections, Chinese celebrations sparked race riots that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. This national trauma catalyzed the establishment of a controversial race-based system of governance rooted in a New Economic Policy (NEP) that gave preferential treatment to the majority Malay Muslim community. A tenuous arrangement with minority Chinese and Indian groups held the country together since that time, mostly under the rule of Mahathir Mohamed whose aggressive economic growth strategies propelled Malaysia into the third largest economy in Southeast Asia.

Overtime, however, political progress failed to keep pace with economic development. While the largest building in the world was constructed in Kuala Lumpur, political power continued to rest almost entirely along sectarian racial and religious lines. The BN remained unchallenged by a weak opposition incapable of organizing against the status quo. Corruption, mismanagement and concentration of wealth set in. The ruling party had almost complete control over the media, public gatherings, special security laws and other government apparatus.

A number of factors contributed to rising discontent amongst Malaysians across racial divides, including rising crime, a slowing economy, a number of very public corruption scandals and increased oil prices. In addition, increasing discontent emanated from the minority Chinese and Indian communities over the pro-Malay NEP. The BN, now led by Mahathir’s hand-picked successor Abdullah Badawi, recognized its support amongst Chinese and Indians would weaken, but expected that Malay support would remain strong so as to ensure pro-Malay policies.

This was a serious miscalculation. Not only did Chinese and Indians voters flock to the polls in support of the opposition, a number of Malays followed suit. There was a growing realization amongst average Malays that benefits from the NEP seldom found their way to working class segments of the community. Foreign investment continued to decline. Malaysia used to be America’s tenth largest trading partner. It is now number sixteen. While the economy continued to grow, fewer people were benefitting from the gains.

Therein lies Mr. Anwar’s most significant contribution to Malaysia’s political earthquake. He coalesced a fractured opposition movement around the elimination of race-based politics – and did so in such a manner that supporters of the ruling BN party felt no compulsion to turn to violence, as a number of them actually agreed with Mr. Anwar. The achievement was made nonetheless remarkable by the fact that he campaigned through a complete media black-out and relentless attacks on his character through state-controlled media, but continued to draw significant crowds in the tens of thousands across the country including in areas dominated by the ruling party. The opposition’s innovative use of Youtube and text-messaging no doubt played a role in this as well.

Mr. Anwar was able to broker a cooperative arrangement amongst three major opposition parties – the left leaning mostly Chinese DAP, the Malay Islamist PAS party and his own PKR multi-racial Justice Party - to challenge the BN one-to-one in each contest. The opposition was able to achieve what most said was impossible given the entrenched power of the ruling BN party; undercut BN support amongst Malays by appealing to their sense of justice and fairness.

Malaysia’s race-based system was likely to give way sooner or later, however Mr. Anwar paved a path for peaceful transition by bringing his credibility as a Malay politician to the table while simultaneously assuring Chinese and Indians that their rights would be respected. He talked Malays into letting go of the fear that incited communal riots in 1969. It is no small feat to peacefully transition out of entrenched systems of entitlement. One need only review Iraq’s unfortunate history since 2003 for an example of how such a process can be terribly mismanaged.

While the opposition victory is certainly critical for charting a more egalitarian future for Malaysia, it also bodes well for the development of Muslim democracy. The opposition coalition’s orientation brought moderate elements from the Islamist PAS party forward. PAS even fielded a non-Muslim candidate, an unprecedented move in its history. Meanwhile, Badawi sought to leverage racial divide by appealing to Malays through increasingly Islamist rhetoric. His efforts were resoundingly rebuked. The election results demonstrate that the majority Muslim country is interested in exploring a system politics that does not discriminate based on race or religion.

A weakened BN party cannot be entirely attributed to Anwar Ibrahim’s improbable political resurrection. However, he undoubtedly played a critical role in organizing the opposition and reasoning the Malay population through this transition. Political possibilities that were unthinkable last week in Malaysia are all of a suddenly on the table. Mr. Anwar refers to this reality as a new dawn for the country. If he is successful in accomplishing his stated goals, most fair-minded observers would have to agree.

Mr. Ahmad is an essayist based in Cambridge, Mass. His commentary and analysis has appeared in the Economist, the Washington Post and other publications on issues related to national and international politics.

New Economic Plutocracy?


New Economic Plutocracy?

Posted by Raja Petra
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT


The newly unveiled NEP is such as case in point - it is still based on a utilitarian view of human nature and still crunches humanity by the numbers. Our 'developmental' path continues to head in the wrong direction.

Dr. Azly Rahman

http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com

( I wrote this in March 2006. Comments welcome.)

We have authored yet another Malaysia Plan. This is one is based on plutocracy, or the rule of the wealthy. Race-based political-economy will still guide us till 2020, the year we achieve clear vision in a world of the blind in which many one-eyed men want to become king.

Robust growth, inspired by Sun Tze's maxim of the art of war, guided by economic liberalism of a newer version of race-based policy, synthesised with a new keris-wielding philosophy of globalisation, and finally graced with the language of love and care and benevolence of a religiously-puritanic government - this is the new Malaysian deal of which Roosevelt's America of the 1950s would have envied. The global economy is a mahabharatha or the great war into which we want to be sucked.

What are the assumptions of human nature on which the new deal of the 9th Malaysia Plan is based? How is race crystallised as a newer dynamics? Where is this government taking us in this turbulent economic waves of an oligopolic-capitalistic globalised world? Will we become happier and more sophisticated slaves in the global economy? Will we be able to get out of this new madness of a new economic piracy?

Will this nation - in its race to compete globally with the global economic giants - speed up the throttle of the human conveyer belt so that its citizen-slaves will work harder and faster until it suffers a massive heart attack borne out of the stresses of wanting to emerge triumphant as a global player?

Who will benefit from all these then? Is this the final solution to the pain we have inflicted upon ourselves from the liberal economic polices base on race-based ideology not longer in synchrony with the refreshing view of the anti-globalisation movement?

"Utilitarian view"

The newly unveiled NEP is such as case in point - it is still based on a utilitarian view of human nature and still crunches humanity by the numbers. Our 'developmental' path continues to head in the wrong direction. We need to gostan as the old Johoreans would say - 'go as you turn' to de-evolve. Our notion of progress continue to be uni-linear and emphasises this poorly-misunderstood notion of human capital.

See...we cannot even escape from using the word 'capital' to stay in tune and in perpetual confusion of what 'capitalism' entails. Like our misconstrued notion of 'feminism', it is all a linguistic game. We will be continually trapped in this prison-house of language. It is a mélange and microbe of confusion based on a poor understanding of the philology of developmentalism. We have been so bought over by the shibboleth of developmentalism that we now only speak the language of cut-throat competition laced 'confusingly' with terminology such as Islam Hadhari.

Must we compete, among ethnic groups, among nations? Or is there a better lens we can use to craft a more liberating philosophy of development; one based on the development of the people, by the people, for the people, and one based on social-democratic principles of co-operation? This is our national dilemma which will continue to plague us as long as those who speak the language of national development have the mind of a parochialism unable to see the larger picture of dehumanisation unfolding. Cui bono - who benefits? - will be the guiding question in this NEP as a philosophy we borrow perhaps from Stalinism.

"Counter-ideology needed"

What a pity that the academicians in the nation cannot even agree to get together to craft a comprehensive counter-ideology of developmentalism or to even mount a good philosophical argument to guide us through this 'feel-good-for-the-good-life guaranteed national philosophy of economic development' crafted by our own mind's enshacklement of neo-Rostowian ideology; one that is married to a McClelland notion of human development and achievement.

Perhaps our academics have turned into the much scorned intelligentsia and have become a post-modern caste and have been impoverished by the closing of the Malaysian mind that have undergone a systematic process of natural selection of what to teach and what to hide. We are too much schooled in 'the developmentalist agenda' borrowed from perhaps Adam Smith-Friedmanian economics borrowed from classical liberal theories of economic development that bury human beings alive under mountain of numbers.

Hence we still see words like '30 percent ownership', 'competitive economy', 'robust economy', and 'engines of growth' that string the manifesto of Malaysian national development that will guide the construction and installation of institution that will further cleverly discriminate and devastate human beings into race and classes and the modern caste system.

Our philosophy of economic is this: Produce and keep on producing for the world market until we become slaves in this precarious international system. Produce and keep on producing things that human beings don't need. Create needs out of the things that people do not want - more televisions, satellites, cell phones, luxury cars, highways, multimedia products or whatever informational capitalism dictates. Or better still for us - create a bio-tech nation, even if we do not understand what this means. As long as policy makers profit from the creation of these 'needs' that will also spell 'progress'.

Aren't we all now doomed and have we long ago planted the seeds of destruction? De-evolve or be destroyed Who owns the machinery of production that is linking us to the oppressive global and technocratic production system couched under the addictive ideology called 'globalisation'?

In all sectors of our economy, we continue to reply upon the advice of the International Advisory panel who have become another addiction itself for a neo-colonialist nation like ours. What we need is a stronger system of check and balance. In other words, we need a strong Opposition/Alternative/Social-Democratic/Socialistic front that will mediate the contradiction of our economic growth. We have 9MP that is still authored, inscribed, installed and institutionalised by the very ruling coalition front that is becoming more and more totalitarian. We can never know the hidden curriculum behind the scope and sequence of our developmentalist agenda.

We have somewhat a parallel government running; one carrying our the agenda with perceived benevolence, and one working behind closed doors strategising the perfection of the instruments of domination. We need to de-evolve from our philosophy of hyper-modernity that is bringing us into a Formula One track of unchecked capitalist expansion, using the technical, manual, and intellectual labour of the nation to further enrich the few mandarins and kshatriya and the bangsawan of Malaysia's newer economic piracy.

We must look back and if we are all going to be subjected to a massive national heart attack if we continue to speed up the inner workings of a cut-throat, competitive economy that continues to sell junk to the citizens.

Slow down - we're moving too fast dancing with giants. We will have a heart attack right here on our Formula One track to a 'developed status'. We need a counter-philosophy of development - one based on aristocracy of the many.

Hormatlah kerajaan parti pembangkang


Hormatlah kerajaan parti pembangkang

Posted by Raja Petra
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT


Apa yang berlaku di Perak itu membimbangkan. Pihak BN memerhati peristiwa di Perak itu seperti kucing memerhatikan anak-anak tikus yang keluar dari lubang pensembunyiannya.

ANTARA KITA

Oleh Mohd Sayuti Omar

Semua Menteri Besar baru di empat buah negeri yang dikuasai parti pembangkang telah mengangkat sumpah memegang jawatan Menteri Besar. Majlis angkat sumpah MB Perak dijadualkan harei ini (17 Mac) setelah ditangguhkan beberapa kali.

Upacara itu dimulai oleh Azizan Abdul Razak (Adun Sungai Limau) daripada PAS yang menjadi MB Kedah. Kemudian diikuti oleh Lim Guan Eng, (Adun Air Putih) yang mengangkat sumpah menjadi Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang.

Azizan mengangkat sumpah di hadapan Sultan Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah manakala Lim Guan Eng di hadapan Yang Dipertua Negeri Pulau Pinang, Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.

Selepas itu diikuti Khalid Ibrahim (13 Mac) (Adun Ijok) dari PKR mengangkat sumpah di hadapan Sultan Shafaruddin Idris Shah menjadi MB Selangor.

Mursyidul Am PAS Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz (Adun Chempaka) juga telah mengangkat sumpah menjadi MB Kelantan untuk penggal kelima berturut-turut di hadapan Sultan Kelantan, Tuanku Ismail Petra ibni Almaruhum Sultan Yahya Petra.

Dengan selesai dan selamatnya majlis yang ditunggu-tunggu itu ini bermakna parti PAS, PKR dan DAP buat pertama kali (kecuali Pas) masing-masing mempunyai menteri besar dalam Kerajaan negeri Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Selangor. PAS nampaknya bernasib baik kerana kini mempunyai dua Menteri Besar baru, di Kedah dan Perak.

Pada masa ini sesetengah MB sibuk dengan proses pembentukan kerajaan negeri masing-masing. Proses ini melibatkan perlantikan anggota Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (Exco) dan juga pembahagian potfilo. Pengemaskini juga dilakukan ke atas agensi-agensi penting kerajaan yang merupakan nadi dan penggerak utama kepada kerajaan negeri.

Sesungguhnya pencapaian parti pembangkang itu memberangsangkan dan ia diluar dugaan. Keputusan pilihan raya itu juga satu sejarah baru dalam politik demokrasi negara ini. Ia memberi jawaban bahawa hegemoni BN dan Umno yang menakhtai beberapa buah negeri itu selama ini terjawab. Kini mitos bahawa BN tidak boleh ditumbangkan sudah tidak boleh dipercayai lagi.

Kejayaan parti pembangkang yang diharapkan selepas ini akan bersatu atas satu platform – Barisan Rakyat (BR) adalah sebagai satu muqadimah kepada usaha yang lama dilakukan sebelum ini. Kejayaan yang ditempa hari ini adalah hasil rintihan secara serius bermula pada tahun 1998 selepas meletusnya reformasi.

Pilihan raya 1999 adalah satu percubaan kerjasama pembangkang untuk menumbangkan BN namun ia tidak berhasil. Malang lagi pakatan yang agak konkrit itu (Barisan Alternatif) bubar begitu saja apabila DAP mengalami kekalahan teruk dan mengikut analisanya ia disebabkan pakatan berkenaan membabitkan Pas. Orang Cina menolak DAP kerana tidak setuju dengan pendekatan dan agenda perjuangan Pas.

Diperhati rakyat

Apapun kejayaan pembakang pada 9 Mac lalu wajar disambut oleh semua orang kerana ianya adalah keputusan rakyat. Jangan hendaknya ada jarum-jarum halus yang cuba menyocok kononya keputusan itu tidak tepat dan sebaganya. Bagi parti Pas, PKR dan DAP pula perlu menjaga dan memantapkan pakatan mereka. Kerajaan yang dimiliki kini perlu dijaga sebaik mungkin.

Lemah atau kuatnya kerajaan yang dibentuk itu akan menjadi ukuran dan perhatian rakyat. Sekiranya kerajaan itu stabil dan berjaya menangani beberapa isu yang dibangkit oleh rakyat di negeri berkenaan sudah pasti ia bakal memberi cabaran sengit kepada BN di masa akan datang.

Hari ini rakyat juga sedang menanti penuh minat dan memerhati perjalanan kerajaan berkenaan. Lebih-lebih lagi pembentukan kerajaan Perak yang masih belum terlaksana. Apa yang berlaku di Perak itu membimbangkan. Pihak BN memerhati peristiwa di Perak itu seperti kucing memerhatikan anak-anak tikus yang keluar dari lubang pensembunyiannya.

DAP, PKR dan Pas harus meminumkan masalah mereka. Segala keretakan kecil perlu ditampong segera agar ia tidak merebak dan meluas.

Dalam pada itu para simpatis kepada Umno dan BN harus menyedari hakikat yang berlaku hari ini. Bahawa pakatan pembangkang menguasai DUN Perak. Apapun alasan dan sebab musababnya rakyat telah memberi mandapat kepada mereka. Begitu juga apapun implikasi yang menimpa nasib Melayu ia tidak boleh disalahkan kepada Pas. Melemparkan masalah itu kepada PAS adalah tidak adil.

Kekalahan Umno dan BN itu harus sama diakui dan diterima oleh Umno. Umno mesti menyedari penolakan pengundi Cina dan India terhadap mereka tentu adalah di mana-mana yang tidak kena. Sama sekali penolakan itu tidak boleh dituding kepada Pas apa lagi tuduhan tidak berasas dan liar mengatakan Pas mengkhianati Melayu.

Sebaiknya dalam keadaan kritikal hari ini Umno berdiam diri dan membuat mahasabah dan bukannya cuba mencungkil batu-batu kecil kemudian dilontar ke tengah pesta pembangkang yang sedang menyambut kemenangan hari ini. Tidak ada faedahnya juga kalau mereka menganggui pesta berkenaan. Apa yang lebih baik Umno mereka ikut sama meraikan kemenangan pembangkang itu kalaupun bukan untuk DAP tetapi untuk PAS!

CMs, DPMs and PMs: Time to go beyond the old taboos


CMs, DPMs and PMs: Time to go beyond the old taboos

Posted by Raja Petra
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT


The debate over who should be made chief minister of Perak, which has been going on for a week now, points to the same sort of intellectual and psycho-social impasse that has kept Malaysia paralysed for so long.

By Farish A. Noor

WHEN the opportunity presented itself for Malaysia to choose a Malaysian woman of South Asian origin to be made the country’s first astronaut, those responsible for the final decision stepped back before the seemingly-insurmountable wall of taboos and inherited petty wisdom. No, they opined, we should choose a Malaysian Male Muslim Malay instead, as this would reflect the demographic realities of the country. But by doing so, they not only reflected the demographic realities of the day, but also confirmed the hegemony of that reality and thus rendered it absolute and unquestionable.

Now think of the possible alternatives had the Malaysian-Indian woman be chosen instead: For a start it would point to the demographic realities many of us would have wanted to see; and it would have been such a powerful symbolic message sent to Malaysia and the world. Had the other candidate been chosen, we could have proudly proclaimed that this was a country where racial and ethnic divisions had been transcended, and where gender equality was within reach. It would also have been such an enormous boost to the pride and sense of self-worth of so many other marginalised minority groupings in the country, to see themselves mirrored in the national narrative and to be made to feel that they truly belonged to a Malaysia that was indeed a country for all races. But no: Sadly, once again, the powers that be did the familiar cop-out and conceded to their own misguided belief in the old taboos.

The debate over who should be made chief minister of Perak, which has been going on for a week now, points to the same sort of intellectual and psycho-social impasse that has kept Malaysia paralysed for so long. Despite winning the biggest number of state assembly seats in the state, the DAP was not allowed to nominate one of its own to the post. The grounds for this realpolitik consideration happens to be a legal provision in the Perak constitution that apparently precludes the possibility of a non-Malay and non-Muslim from assuming the post of chief minister, even if her/his party won all the seats in the state assembly.

That such a provision emerged in a specific historical context that was determined even before the struggle for independence got off the ground is known to historians and laymen alike. But the question is this: Are we forever to remain beholden to history and trapped by the circumstances of the past? Or are we finally going to admit to ourselves that this nation-state of ours – Malaysia – is an invented construct and as such is also open to deconstruction, revision, adaptation and subsequently evolution? Are we now ready to evolve a new Malaysian politics that will finally reflect the plural and multicultural reality of Malaysian society today?

The debate over who should be the Perak chief minister appeared archaic and totally out of touch with the realities of our time. Coming immediately after an election that demonstrated the possible emergence of a pan-Malaysian cross-racial electorate, the fact that the post of chief minister for Perak was determined not by merit, experience or acumen, but rather by the racial background of the potential candidate, was surreal to say the least.

But as the dust settles and as the country slowly regains its momentum in the wake of the results of the 12th general election, let us take this opportunity to stir up some other sleeping sacred cows and rattle some other popular taboos.

To begin with, let us ask the singular question that nobody seems to have raised thus far: If, as our politicians would lead us to believe, this is indeed a country for all Malaysians, then should it not be the case that Malaysian citizenship and the commitment to the ideal of a plural Malaysian Malaysia be the guiding principle and criteria for all appointments to high office? Should that premise be accepted, would it not be conceivable that one day this country may have as its prime minister or deputy prime minister a Malaysian of non-Malay, non-Muslim and non-Male background? In other words, can we even begin to imagine the day when we may have a prime minister who happens to be of Indian-Hindu background and a woman to boot? And if such a situation is deemed unthinkable by some at the moment, we need to ask: Why? What is holding us back from entertaining such contingencies and variables? Surely what matters most in the selection of any leader or administrator is the competence and sincerity of the individual concerned; and it’s not as if it is the colour of the person’s skin that is doing the governing! (We hope not at least.)

The following imponderable questions can be addressed to all the parties in the country today as well.

Umno considers itself the party that defends the interests of the Malays and bumiputeras, though as we all know, both of these ethnic-racial categories are artificial and were invented as part of the colonial census. Be that as it may, Umno still presents itself as the party of the Malays and bumiputeras, and so let us ask this question aloud: Can the Umno leadership and membership consider the possibility that one day the president of Umno may be of Kadazan, Bajau, Iban, Penan or Peranakan background? Could a Catholic Kadazan ever dream of rising to such a post, and if not, what does this say about the institutional and structural limitations of Umno itself that does not and will not open up such opportunity structures?

PAS on the other hand claims to have transcended the culture and praxis of race politics, and the elevation of its Chinese-Muslim leader (Datuk) Anuar Tan Abdullah in Kota Bharu is a case in point. Yet PAS still has a woefully small number of non-Malay Muslims in its ranks and it remains to be seen if the party can and will make that great leap to non-racialised politics by courting the support of non-Malay Muslims across the country. Now the leaders and members of PAS may wish to consider this imponderable question as well: Can and will a non-Malay Muslim ever become the president of PAS, chief minister of Kelantan or even assume the highest post of Murshid’ul Am (Spiritual Leader) of the party and its followers?

Both the DAP and Gerakan on the other hand are ideologically-defined parties that have foregrounded their ideologies in the course of their struggles. But with the demise of Ahmad Noor, it has become an imperative for the DAP in particular to expand the racial spectrum of its leadership and membership. Already efforts are being made to undermine the hard work that the DAP has put into winning back Penang and those crucial state assembly seats in Perak and Selangor. Barbed comments about the DAP being a Chinese-dominated party may upset the sensibilities of DAP stalwarts who have laboured for so long to fulfil their leftist ambitions, but the fact remains that this perception of the DAP as a Chinese party is real for many and resonates with others too. In the same way that PAS places Islam at the forefront of its struggle, so should the DAP keep its Democratic-Socialist course, but surely the time has come when we can and should imagine the possibility of the DAP being led by a leader who may be of Malay or Indian background?

In the wake of the election, many of us have celebrated what may well be the first signs of a nascent Malaysian nation where citizenship counts the most in defining ones identity. A rupture has been opened up at last in the collective mindset that determines the conduct of our politics, and perhaps for the first time since 1957, we are in a position to collectively redefine the terms of Malaysian politics.

We need a new Malaysian politics that would breathe new life and faith in the political system, and where all of us – mainly on the basis of our universal citizenship – can claim to be stakeholders in the nation-building process. But for this to be the case we have to be brave enough to think out of the box and to imagine what was once deemed unimaginable. Our sacrosanct taboos and sacred rites have held us back too long, and kept us in a state of limbo where political superstitions ruled the day. For so long, we assumed that Malaysians would not vote for change; that the Malays would never support the DAP; that non-Muslims would never vote for PAS. But these certainties have been shattered and we now see that we are a mature, adult nation after all.

So perhaps all we need to do is push the envelope a little further, set our targets a little higher, wish and work a little harder; and our dreams for a truly democratic Malaysia that is the nation for one and all may eventually come true. We failed to send a Malaysian-Indian woman to space, but that doesn’t mean we can’t send her to the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya!

Dr. Farish A. Noor is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.