Election Commission conducts single-biggest gerrymandering exercise in the history of Malaysia to steal victory in the next General Election for Barisan Nasional

The Election Commission (EC) has officially published its proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries today.  As highlighted previously, there will be no increase in parliamentary seats for the whole country, and no increase in state seats for Peninsula Malaysia.

A simple cursory review of the proposals will confirm the fears of all Malaysians that the EC has made it its primary objective to ensure Barisan Nasional (BN) victory for the Federal Government.

In the proposal, my constituency, “Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU)”, to be renamed as “Damansara”, will become the single largest constituency in Malaysia with 150,439 voters, an increase of 76.2% from the 85,401 registered voters as at the 2013 General Election.

Damansara will displace Kapar as the single largest constituency, with the latter’s number of voters reduced from 144,159 to 100,456, a reduction of 30.3%.

The discretionary treatment in the two seats epitomises the completely arbitrary and brazen gerrymandering exercise the EC is carrying out to the advantage of BN.

How can the EC justify or rationalise the increase of 76.2% of voters in my constituency, making it the largest in the country while at the same time reducing the existing largest constituency by 30%?

EC has increased the size of Damansara mainly by appending 54,902 voters from Bukit Lanjan state assembly seat, previously part of Subang (now renamed “Sungai Buloh”) parliament.  As a result, the number of voters in Subang/Sungai Buloh is also reduced from 128,543 (2013) to 73,448.

There is only one reason one can deduce from the EC actions. It was to add to the majority in the seats BN is deemed unlikely to win, while reducing the majorities for seats where BN sees the opportunity to re-capture.

PJU had the 2nd highest majority of 44,672 in the 2013 general election and is in all probability deemed unwinnable by BN.

Bukit Lanjan on the other hand contributed a 17,200 vote majority to the Subang parliament overall winning majority of 26,719 by Sivarasa Rasiah of PKR in 2013.

With the proposed redelineation, Subang/Sungai Buloh will be left with a much reduced estimated majority of only 9,519 votes.

By shifting Bukit Lanjan to Damansara, the EC has made Subang a much more winnable seat for BN, despite increasing the potential majority for Damansara to a whopping 61,872 (based on 2013 results)!

The similar situation applies to Kapar, when its state seat with the largest majority, Sg Pinang (renamed “Bandar Baru Klang”) is shifted to the Klang parliamentary seat which faced an increase of voters from 97,073 (2013) to 141,025.

In doing so, Kapar, which is currently held by Manivanan Gowin of PKR becomes much more vulnerable.  It’s 2013 winning majority of 23,790 is approximately halved as a result of the proposed redelineation.

The absurdity of creating a monster Damansara seat with more than 150,000 voters is even more outrageous when contrasted with other seats in Peninsula Malaysia with only a fraction of the voters.

Putrajaya remained the smallest constituency in the country with only 17,627 voters (11.7% of Damansara).  Perak remains the state with the highest number of low voter seats with Lenggong at 28,078 (18.7% of Damansara), Padang Rengas at 28,727 (19.1%), Kuala Kangsar at 33,113 (22.0%), Parit at 33,638 (22.4%) and Gerik at 33,832 (22.5%).

Even within Selangor, which has 2.08 million voters and 22 parliamentary seats, the disparity is unjustifiably huge, with the smallest constituency of Sabak Bernam having only 37,126 voters (24.7% of Damansara).  The discrepancy in the number of voters for constituencies within Selangor itself is repugnant, when the average number of voters per seat should be approximately 94,500.

Effectively, a vote in the redelineated Damanasara is not worth even a quarter of a vote in the above gerrymandered seats designed to give the advantage to BN.

We call upon all voters in Damansara, as well as all other affected voters in Malaysia to protest vehemently at the proposed election rigging exercise by the EC which deny them of their equal rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

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BN party reps threaten to quit over 'hudud' motion, but choose to turn a blind eye to 1MDB and Najib's donation scandals

It is almost comical seeing the immense coverage given by vernacular newspapers to non-Malay Barisan Nasional component party leaders who took turns threatening to quit the coalition as a result of the tabling of the hudud motion in Parliament.

Top leaders of MCA, MIC, Gerakan as well as Sabah and Sarawak parties were up in arms, thumping their chests, screaming betrayal by UMNO for allowing PAS President and Member of Parliament for Marang, Dato’ Seri Hadi Awang to table the motion on “hudud”, ahead of other Government business in Parliament.

The question which needs to be asked is simply, where were these BN component party leaders when the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato’ Seri Azalina Othman, who obviously received the endorsement of Dato’ Seri Najib Razak himself, tabled the motion to prioritize Dato’ Seri Hadi Awang’s private members’ bill over government business?

Why was it that only opposition Members of Parliament were brave enough to stand up to question the irregularity of the entire exercise, which was perhaps the first in the history of Malaysian Parliament?

Why did Liow Tiong Lai, Wee Ka Siong, Joseph Kurup, Mah Siew Keong, Joseph Pairin Kitingan or members of their parties stand up to protest the unprecedented event which took place on the last day of the sitting on Thursday last week?

Or is all the brouhaha merely just an afterthought, a show to placate a shocked electorate who has lost total confidence in these BN component parties to protect their rights enshrined in the constitution?

Or are these leaders now threatening to quit for show in order to limit the damage resulting from the admitted collusion between UMNO and PAS?

None of the threats to quit are of course credible. The last time MCA and Gerakan threatened to quit the Cabinet if the results from the 13th General Election showed no improvement, the party leaders obediently put the tails between their legs and meekly crawled back into the Cabinet.

And if these BN leaders really mean their quit threats, then why haven’t they similarly threatened to quit over the RM55 bilion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion Najib-donation scandals?

Are MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Upko, SUPP and PBB more than happy to continue supporting a Prime Minister who has been directly accused of siphoning billions of dollars from the Finance Ministry subsidiary, 1MDB? Even the Auditor-General has confirmed that his office was unable to verify the authenticity and existence of US$7 billion (RM28 billion) of 1MDB transactions, assets and cash conducted overseas.

If they are indeed principled parties and individuals they claim themselves to be, why have they not made any similar threats when Dato’ Seri Najib Razak brought shame to Malaysia in a global scandal which is being investigated in more than 7 countries across the world? Is it because they are also beneficiaries of the stolen funds from 1MDB?

Malaysia is now a renown kleptocracy in the world.  If these chest-thumping BN leaders do not quit over the theft of billions of dollars from the Malaysian tax-payers, then their threats to resign are clearly just for show to minimise the damage caused the dalliance between UMNO and PAS.

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1Malaysia Or 1Race-1Religion?

Housing & Local Government’s Minister’s Defence of Ibrahim Ali’s Bible-burning call proves there is no 1Malaysia, but only Malaysia for 1Race and 1Religion

For those who are familiar with the antics of Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Member of Parliament for Kota Belud and new Housing and Local Government Minister, he will be the first in the House to stand up and concoct a reason to defend “why the chicken cross the road?”

However his latest response as to why Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's urging to burn bibles containing the word ‘Allah’ cannot be compared with the present case against the sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee for insulting Muslims certainly takes the cake.

Datuk Rahman Dahlan argued that Ibrahim’s remark was merely to “correct the error of printing the said bibles”, and hence “burning them was the proper thing to do” just as Muslims burn copies of the Quran that have misprints.

He further added that "what Ibrahim Ali said was normal”, but has been “twisted”.

No right-thinking Malaysian would believe the explanation that Ibrahim’s fiery and emotional remark was just an innocent and virtuous attempt to “correct the error of printing” in the bibles.  And even in the unlikely earth-shattering event that it was, that is no defence against the current Sedition Act.

For example in the landmark case of Public Prosecutor v Mark Koding, Justice Azmi Kamaruddin in the course of his judgment said: “... It is immaterial whether the accused intention or motive was honourable or evil when making the speech” when finding the latter guilty of sedition.  All the judge has to do is to see whether the words are likely to create disaffection against the government, the ruler or the people.

What Datuk Rahman Dahlan has done is to defend the indefensible attempt by the right-wing Perkasa leader, Ibrahim Ali in his attempt to incite Malays and Muslims in the country to burn the holy books of Christians.

However, in the case of the bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, better known as “Alvivi”, who probably thought it was “funny” to ridicule fasting Muslims, “justice” was meted out before those charged has an opportunity to defend themselves.

Make no mistake, those found guilty must be punished accordingly and the acts of insulting another’s religion is not acceptable.  However, in the case of Alvivi, they have been denied bail on the basis that “both accused had a tendency to upload pictures that could arouse public outrage”, making them guilty before their defence is called.

The clear-cut double-standards in Malaysian prosecution system proves the hypocrisy of “1Malaysia”, a slogan preached by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.  It also makes a mockery of our Federal Constitution which provides that all Malaysians are equal before the law.

The fact that Ibrahim Ali who the open and defiant call for bibles to be burnt was not only left uncharged, but also now defended by the UMNO Minister, while summary punishment was meted out to the blogging duo who carried out the tasteless prank confirms that the Federal Government practices not “1Malaysia” but Malaysia for 1Race and 1Religion.

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Datuk Paul Low Fears PAC Abused for Political Mileage

Datuk Paul Low’s trivialisation and politicisation of the Public Accounts Committee chairmanship confirms his BN partisanship and stains his reputation for transparency and accountability

The Pakatan Rakyat state government has made an offer for the Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) opposition leader to chair the powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to create a first world assembly, in the interest of check and balance, transparency and accountability.  The unconditional offer has been rejected by the Selangor opposition leader, Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias.

I have written to implore the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to instruct Selangor BN to accept the post to prove that he is serious about his transformation programme to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world” and his pledge to ensure transparency and accountability.

I have made the call on the Datuk Seri Najib Razak to do so, regardless of whether he will offer the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat, although he should if he is serious about a first-world parliament.

However, the new Minister in the Prime Minister’s department, Datuk Paul Low has been quick to the draw to dismiss the idea as unnecessary and unimportant.  He told the Malay Mail that because “Malaysia, unlike other Commonwealth countries, may not have the political maturity to have an opposition member chair its parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).”

The Minister seemingly without any political affiliation now claims that “such positions could be abused for political mileage”.

He said that “it depends on political maturity. To what extent can politicians give constructive criticism? Overseas, the opposition joins constructive and bipartisan discussions, so maybe they can do it there.”  Low said that in Malaysia the opposition would have to note that the seat was meant to be used for constructive criticism and not just to condemn the government.

Datuk Paul Low’s negative response only proves that he has completely shedded his impartial non-governmental organisation (NGO) skin and has fully embraced BN partisanship.  It appears that the former Transparency International President for the Malaysian chapter is now be more worried  about the government being condemned for its abuses and scandals, than about uncovering the wrongs of the abuses and scandals.

Datuk Paul Low is indeed correct to note that “overseas, the opposition joins constructive and bipartisan discussions”.  But that is because in their parliaments, dozens of bipartisan select committees are set up to discuss the drafting of laws in the country.  Here in Malaysia, the BN government will not set up of any such committee to deny the involvement of opposition politicians in the law-making process.  BN treats the Parliament like a rubber stamp where whatever amendments sought by the other side of the fence, regardless of whether it is constructive or otherwise, gets rejected by the tyranny of the majority.

The Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Government, by Datuk Paul Low’s own definition, obviously has greater political maturity compared to the BN Federal Government.  The state government welcomes criticism, positive or negative, constructive or political, from the BN opposition to improve itself further.  After all, if the state government is completely transparent and accountable, the PAC chairman will have no issue or basis to “condemn the government”.
Datuk Paul Low further provided the flimsy excuse that “it was not imperative that an opposition member chair the parliamentary PAC, which already consisted of those from both sides of the political divide and with the chairman serving just as a facilitator”.

His excuse not only trivialises the position of the PAC chairman who gets the say to set the agenda, the excuse doesn’t make any sense.  If indeed the chairman is just a facilitator, then why not give it to the Opposition, why shouldn’t BN accept the role in Selangor?

Malaysians had hoped that Datuk Paul Low will set new standards for transparency and accountability in the new Najib Cabinet.  Instead, as shown in the previous issues on the set up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) and the declaration of assets by Cabinet Ministers, not only will no new standards be set, Datuk Paul Low has disappointingly become  the apologist for the BN administration to justifyt its opacity and abuses.

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BN Selangor Rejects PAC Chairmanship: An Abdication of Duty

For the second term running, Barisan Nasional (BN) state assemblymen are again abdicating from their duties to the rakyat to act as an effective opposition to check and balance the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

For this new term, the unconditional offer to chair the powerful Public Account Committee (PAC) has been offered to the state Opposition Leader, Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias.  However the latter has indicated that he will not take up the position giving the ridiculous excuse that the offer was “politically motivated”.

BN has also rejected the PAC chairmanship offer in 2008, after initially accepting it then.  However, after being firmly entrenched to the state opposition with fewer numbers for the second term, it is time for them to accept their role and perform their functions dutifully.

There is no point in the BN opposition making all sorts of wild allegations against the state government when the Pakatan Rakyat are giving the PAC chairmanship to BN on a silver platter.  As the chairman of the PAC, he will be able to set the agenda for the PAC meetings, review alleged misconduct and controversies, secure all relevant documents and interview any officer involved including State Executive Councillors.

Hence we find it completely inexplicable that BN is rejecting the position for the second time, unless the rejection is “politically motivated”.  BN is rejecting the position because it does not want to endorse the practice of transparency and accountability.

Despite the slew of rhetoric and slogans in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to increase transparency and accountability, the BN government led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak has consistently refused to accept the first world parliamentary best practice of an opposition leader leading the PAC.

Hence even though the unconditional offer of the PAC chairmanship is to promote first world legislative assemblies, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has instructed that the position not be accepted because it will make him look bad in the Parliament.

It appears that Datuk Seri Najib Razak will not be able to live down the fact that a Pakatan Rakyat government accepts a BN PAC Chairman, while he is unable to practise what he preach in the Parliament.  The Prime Minister obviously fears a Pakatan-led PAC in Parliament which will be more pro-active and meticulous in uncovering various abuses, scandals and corruption in the BN government.

We call upon the Ministers in-charge of GTP, Datuk Idris Jala and Datuk Paul Low to play their part to push the Government to not only accept the PAC chairmanship in Selangor, but also to offer the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat.  Datuk Seri Najib Razak must realise that he lost the trust of 51% of the rakyat in the last general election due to a poor record in transparency and accountability.  By offering the PAC chairmanship to Pakatan Rakyat, he will be able to prove that he is indeed walking the talk about fighting corruption and abuse of power.

However, regardless of whether the Parliament’s PAC chairmanship position is offered to Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must at the very least instruct Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias to accept the Selangor state assembly’s PAC chairmanship, to act its role as a responsible opposition in ensuring transparency and accountability.

There is no more valid excuses that Selangorians can accept in the rejection of the role.  In fact, the failure of accepting the role will only permanently cement BN as the opposition in Selangor for the 14th General Election.  The rakyat will be able to tell that Pakatan Rakyat governments practice what we preach, while the BN Governments led by the Prime Minister is only good with the song and dance, with no earnest effort in making real transformation.

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There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Utusan

Rencana Awang Selamat semalam dalam Mingguan Malaysia menuduh bahawa “pemimpin DAP, Tony Pua dalam reaksinya mengeluarkan kenyataan provokatif. Beliau mencadangkan pasar Ramadan turut ditutup kerana didakwanya menyebabkan kesesakan lalu lintas.”

Awang Selamat menulis bahawa “kenyataan” saya “ternyata menyinggung perasaan umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi menjelang Ramadan. Awang tidak terkejut. DAP memang parti paling rasis dan selalu mencabar kepentingan Islam.”

Awang Selamat berkata bahawa saya “mengambil mudah kesabaran orang Islam, yang ada batasnya… elok sahaja beliau berhijrah ke Taiwan atau Hong Kong.”

Ada pepatah orang putih yang berbunyi “there are lies, damned lies and statistics”.  Saya rasa lebih sesuai jika pepatah tersebut diubah menjadi “there are lies, damned lies and Utusan”.  Utusan Malaysia merupakan sebuah akhbar tanpa moral, yang lidah bercabang bagai biawak.

Terlebih dahulu, saya ingin menyatakan secara terus-terang bahawa saya tidak pernah meminta supaya pasar Ramadan ditutup.  Oleh sebab itu, isu “menyinggung perasaan umat Islam” atau “mengambil mudah kesabaran orang Islam” langsung tidak terbangkit.

Utusan Malaysia hanya mengemukaan pembohongan dan memutar-belitkan segala kenyataan pemimpin DAP secara 180 darjah, untuk memberikan persepsi palsu bahawa DAP merupakan “parti rasis” yang sentiasa “mencabar kepentingan Islam”.

Dalam persidangan media di Parlimen pada Rabu, 26hb Jun 2013 minggu lalu bersama Ahli Parlimen Bukit Katil dan Kota Melaka, Shamsul Iskandar dan Sim Tong Him, kami tidak pernah mendesak penutupan pasar Ramadan.

Sebaliknya, selain daripada isu Jonker Walk, kami telah membangkitkan isu bahawa kerajaan UMNO Melaka telah mengeluarkan arahan untuk menutup bazaar Ramadan di Taman Cempaka, di kawasan parlimen Bukit Katil.  Kami telah membantah tindakan kerajaan UMNO Melaka yang menganiayai lebih daripada 300 penjaja-penjaja di bazaar Ramadan Taman Cempaka yang merupakan antara terbesar dan terpopular di Melaka.  Malah lesen-lesen yang telahpun ditawarkan kepada pihak penjaja di sana telah ditarik balik tergesa-gesa.

Walaupun kedua-dua pasar Jonker Walk dan bazaar Ramadan Taman Cempaka mempunyai sejarah selama 13 tahun, ia ditutup oleh kerajaan UMNO kerana MCA tewas di Kota Melaka, dan UMNO, yang diwakili oleh bekas Ketua Menteri Melaka, Datuk Seri Ali Rustam tewas di Bukit Katil.  Ini merupakan tindakan balas dendam oleh Ketua Menteri Melaka yang baru, Datuk Idris Haron, yang mungkin masih didalangi oleh Datuk Seri Ali Rustam,  yang tidak puas hati dengan rakyat yang memberikan sokong kepada Pakatan Rakyat.

Sidang media kami pada 26hb Jun jelas menunjukkan bahawa UMNO sendiri yang telah menutup bazaar Ramadan, dan bukannya DAP atau Pakatan Rakyat yang tidak berkuasa berbuat begitu.

Saya telah merujuk semula video sidang media hari tersebut dan mencatat perkataan-perkataan yang saya telah sebut, yang telah diputar-belitkan oleh Utusan Malaysia.

“Akhir sekali, kalau katakan satu-satu pasar malam, atau pasar tani, atau bazaar Ramadan akan menyebabkan kesesakan lalulintas, maka saya rasa semua pasar-pasar, semua pasar tani di Melaka, di mana-mana negeri pun patut dibatalkan secara langsung. 

Kenapa tutup saja di Jonker Walk atau di Taman Cempaka? So kita rasa segala tindakan yang diambil oleh kerajaan negeri Melaka adalah tindakan politik yang langsung tidak mengambil kira keperluan rakyat di Malaysia dan hanya mengambil (kira) kepentingan Umno mereka sendiri.”

Konteks kenyataan saya yang menyoal tindakan kerajaan UMNO Melaka adalah jelas.  Hanya yang bodoh, atau yang berniat jahat sengaja memberikan maksud lain kepada apa yang saya sebut.  Saya telah menyindir logik Ketua Menteri Melaka yang memberikan alasan tidak wajar bahawa pasar Jonker Walk dan Taman Cempaka ditutup untuk menyelesaikan kesesakan jalanraya.  Kami tidak boleh terima alasan tersebut kerana alasan tersebut akan menyebabkan semua pasar malam, pasar tani dan bazaar Ramadan ditutup, dan bukan sahaja di Jonker Walk dan Taman Cempaka.

Saya mencabar Utusan Malaysia untuk memperbetulkan tuduhan liar mereka.  Saya akan memberikan peluang kepada Utusan untuk menerbitkan berita bahawa sekarang, adalah Ahli Parlimen DAP yang mempertahankan hak orang Islam untuk mengekalkan pasar Ramadan yang selama 13 tahun disambut baik oleh rakyat di Melaka.  Saya juga mencabar Utusan untuk membongkarkan kebenaran bahawa yang menutup bazaar Ramadan, “yang menyinggung perasaan umat Islam lebih-lebih lagi menjelang Ramadan” adalah kerajaan UMNO-Barisan Nasional di Melaka.

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Jonker Walk and Jonker Drive will leave Jonker Mess

Yesterday evening, I had joined Members of Parliament for Gelang Patah, Seremban, Rasah, Bakri and of course, Kota Melaka and Bukit Katil to visit and protest the UMNO’s political vengeance against Malaccans by opening Jonker Walk to motor traffic.

The visit and protest has attracted hundreds who unanimously demanded that the Melaka state government withdraw the order to the Melaka City Council to open Jonker Walk which has become a celebrated tourist landmark in Malaysia, famed for its weekend night market.

The protests expressed over the past week by various parties have resulted in the Melaka Chief Minister backtracking and twisting the rationale and decisions to open up Jonker Walk.

While initially Datuk Idris Haron had told Kwong Wah Daily that the move was to “fulfil the people’s wishes” in reaction to MCA candidates being defeated by DAP, now he claims that the move has nothing to do with political retaliation, and everything to do with easing traffic congestion in Melaka City.

The twist and turn was so fantastic, he claimed that he has to resolve the severe congestion caused by Jonker Walk which results in up to a 4-hour journey from the city to the Ayer Keroh toll plaza. We would like to inform the Melaka Chief Minister that our journey from the city to the toll plaza yesterday, despite the crowded Jonker Walk, took us all of 30 minutes.

In addition, despite the ban on street traders which was explicitly stated in the state government directive to the City Council on 12 June 2013, Datuk Idris Haron declared 2 days ago that there was no decision to stop the street market and the 300 or so traders can continue their activities.

The above decision is not only a shocking half-reversal, it’s completely irresponsible.  Datuk Idris has only retracted the decision to “ban” the night market traders, he did not retract the decision to open up the road.  This means that all the market traders who are displaying their wares and goods on the road side as well as the tourists and customers will be facing the risk of being knocked down by on-coming traffic.

The visit to Jonker Walk also reaffirmed our fear for the safety of the people when it is clear that there is no way a car can pass through the road with the traders on the streets, what more reopening the road to two-way traffic!

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had rightly ticked off the Melaka Chief Minister that the road is named “Jonker Walk” and not “Jonker Drive”, and insisted that the tourist destination be kept as such.  In fact, Melaka government’s convoluted and senseless decision to make it both a “Walk” and a “Drive” puts at risk the safety of tourists, residents and traders.  We will hold Datuk Idris Haron fully responsible for any untoward accidents happening as a result of opening Jonker Walk to motorised traffic.

The new Melaka Chief Minister must act like a leader and not a petty, cowardly politician.  We are more than happy to fight “politics” with BN in the state assembly or in parliament.  However, let’s keep politics out of the interest, safety and livelihood of the people of Melaka and Malaysia.  The Melaka state government must immediately withdraw the order to re-open Jonker Walk to traffic during weekend evenings, and not wait for someone to get seriously hurt.

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Malaysian Chinese are not Concerned with the Race of the Prime Minister

The misplaced tirade against the Chinese in Malaysia, whether intentional or otherwise, continues with the new Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim latest salvo published in Sinchew Daily yesterday.

He said that if the Chinese Malaysians who have been indoctrinated with “extreme racism” by the DAP can ditch their “racist mindset”, he “believes that Malaysia would one day have a prime minister of Chinese ethnicity”.

He was quoted to say “(You) cannot lead the people if (you) believe too much in racial power. If one day the Chinese could get rid of this mindset, Malaysia could also have a Chinese as prime minister”.

This statement is not only an uncalled for attempt to insult Malaysian Chinese as racists, it is a clear cut attempt to insinuate that Malaysian Chinese are a power-crazy and greedy community whose ultimate goal is to take over the Prime Ministership of this country.  It is part of UMNO’s continued attempt to divide the nation by having the Malay community remain completely frightful of the fairy-tale eventuality of losing political power.

Taking leaf from the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, Datuk Seri Shahidan even accused the Chinese of not participating “in activities organised by the government, but chose to be involved in the illegal street rallies held by the opposition”.

It clearly shows that to these UMNO leaders, any support given Pakatan Rakyat as an alternative to Barisan Nasional will be deemed “racist” in nature, even if the support is given to fight the blatant racism of parties like UMNO.

When Malays vote overwhelmingly for UMNO in the past, it is never “racism”. When Chinese voted for MCA in the past, that can’t be racism.  However, when Malays increased their support for Pakatan Rakyat candidates in the same election, Dr Mahathir accused DAP of spreading “propaganda” that influenced educated Malays.  And when the Chinese voted strongly for Pakatan Rakyat, that according to UMNO, is proof of Chinese “racism”. That is complete and utter gibberish coming from UMNO leaders.

UMNO leaders like Tun Dr Mahathir and Datuk Seri Shahidan perpetuate the above lies because they believe that the only way to maintain UMNO’s control of in the country and to share the wealth of the nation only with the politically connected elite, is by demonising the non-Malay community with artificial claims of “racism”, even if the claims are themselves racist.

UMNO leaders fear a Malaysia where Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks and other minority communities become united to fight cronyism and corruption among the ruling BN elite. Hence the desperate need to use all racist means keep Malaysia divided by race and religion.

The DAP never campaigned on a “Chinese” political power platform.  We never campaigned against Malay political interests.  If we did, Malaysians can be assured that such campaign speeches will be televised and condemned widely in all broadcast and print media as “proof” of DAP racism.  Instead, throughout our election campaigns, our leaders harped only on the singular point of creating a country that is free from corruption and cronyism, where the nation’s wealth can be shared among all Malaysians, and not just those who are politically connected.

For the Chinese community, they have no interest whatsoever in seeing a Chinese installed as a Prime Minister of Malaysia.  They don’t care if the Prime Minister of the country is a Malay, Indian, Kadazan or Iban, as long as he is a Prime Minister for all Malaysians and not just for a select group of cronies or race.

The Chinese community did not give their votes to PAS because PAS is a Chinese party.  They certainly did not pick Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as their preferred choice of Prime Minister because he is a Chinese.  They picked him because they see him as Malaysian first, who will fight abuse of power and prioritise the interest of the poor and disadvantaged, regardless of race, religion or creed.

UMNO Ministers and leaders will need to learn that the only way to stop the inevitability of losing their grip on power in Malaysia is to adopt the “Malaysian first” principle as espoused in their own “1Malaysia” slogan.  Their continued racist bent of their political platform will end all hopes of BN ever recovering from their election losses in 2008 and 2013.

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Khairy vs Zahid - Who's Spinning?

Khairy Jamaluddin says Zahid Hamidi’s “leave Malaysia” statement is the latter’s own opinion while Zahid defends his statement – so who’s spinning?

Newly appointed Home Affairs Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi told Malaysians in Utusan Malaysia to leave the country if they are not happy with the outcome of the 13th General Election.  He gave the excuse that Malaysia has inherited the first-past-the-post system from the United Kingdom, which is also utilised in many Commonwealth states.  Therefore he argued that despite Pakatan Rakyat achieving 51.78% of the popular vote, our adopted system allows for a party or coalition with lower popular vote to win 60% of the seats in Parliament.

Datuk Zahid Hamidi is in effect demonstrating his utter contempt and arrogance by telling Malaysians who wants to improve our electoral system and prevent blatant abuses via gerrymandering to leave the country.

In the ensuing uproar, first-term and newly appointed Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin tried to diffuse the controversy by telling reporters that the “leave Malaysia” comment was the UMNO Vice-President and Home Minister’s personal view.  He claimed that it is not the view of Najib’s administration.

However, at the same time, Datuk Zahid Hamidi came out to defend his article claiming there is nothing wrong with his comments because he wasn’t racist.

The statements by these two Ministers makes a complete mockery of Najib’s “new” administration, and leaves Malaysians completely stunned dumbfounded.

First of all, who is Khairy to claim that the “leave Malaysia” comment is Zahid’s personal comment and not that of the Najib administration?  Did Najib appoint Khairy has his official spokesperson to the extent that Khairy can dismiss outright the comments made by the UMNO vice-president?  Or was it instead, only Khairy’s “personal view” that Zahid’s comments was the latter’s personal view?

It appears that Khairy has been completely discredited because the Prime Minister has himself remained completely silent over the issue. Zahid has on the other hand come out with all guns blazing defending his “leave Malaysia” statement, while ignoring the “personal view” issued by Khairy.

Unfortunately Zahid’s only defence for his statement was that he wasn’t making a racist statement. Zahid obviously doesn’t take the criticisms by Malaysians seriously as we never accused him of making a racist statement here.  We are accusing him of being arrogant and contemptous of the rights of Malaysians to a freer and fairer electoral system.

Malaysians are fully aware that the first-past-the-post system does indeed grant disproportionate allocations of seats relative to the percentage popular vote.  However, the system in Malaysia has been abused by BN to the extent where the gap between the constituencies with the least number of voters such as Putrajaya (15,791) and Padang Rengas (28,518) won by BN, compared to those with the biggest population such as Kapar (144,159) and Serdang (133,139) won by Pakatan Rakyat far exceeds acceptable reason.  One will not find such ridiculous discrepancies between constituencies in other advanced first-past-the-post democracies such as United Kingdom or Australia.

This is the reason why hundreds of thousands of Malaysians have gathered in various cities over the past week to demand a better electoral system, be it a fairer distribution of voters in all constituencies or a thoroughly revamped proportional representation system, or a mixture of both as practiced in certain other advanced democracies.  It is the right of ordinary Malaysians to demand free and fair elections.

Datuk Zahid Hamidi’s continued defense of his comments proves that BN does not believe in free and fair elections and will once again use all necessary means to manipulate constituencies in the next general election.

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Zahid Hamidi's Contempt of Malaysian Voters

Newly appointed Home Minister and UMNO Vice-President is doing his very best to block and jeopardise any possibility of Najib’s so-called “national reconciliation”

In a shocking article published in Utusan Malaysia, completely unbecoming of a Home Affairs Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi tells Malaysians who are not happy with the outcome of the 13th General Election to migrate somewhere else with an electoral system which suits their fancies.

In the article, he said that

Jika golongan ini mahu menerima pakai list system atau single transferable vote seperti mana yang digunakan oleh negara-negara republik, sepatutnya mereka berhijrah ke negara-negara berkenaan untuk mempraktikkan kepercayaan politik mereka.

Dato’ Seri Zahid gave the excuse that Malaysia has inherited the first-past-the-post system from the United Kingdom, which is also utilised in many Commonwealth states.

Malaysia mewarisi sistem politik daripada United Kingdom dan kebanyakan negara Komanwel juga menggunakan sistem first past the post yang mana parti-parti politik yang bertanding di kawasan pilihan raya memilih hanya seorang wakil bagi setiap kawasan pengundian yang mengambil kira prinsip undi majoriti mudah.

Therefore he argued that despite Pakatan Rakyat achieving 51.78% of the popular vote, our adopted system allows for a party or coalition with lower popular vote to win the elections.

Dato’ Seri Zahid fails in his argument on 2 separate counts.  Firstly, while the first-past-the-post system does indeed grant disproportionate allocations of seats relative to the percentage popular vote, our electoral boundaries have been excessively corrupted over the past decades.  The gap between the constituencies with the least number of voters such as Putrajaya (15,791) and Padang Rengas (28,518) and those with the biggest population such as Kapar (144,159) and Serdang (133,139) goes to prove that our electoral system is manipulated to give the ruling Barisan Nasional an unfair advantage.  One will not find such ridiculous discrepancies between constituencies in other advanced first-past-the-post democracies such as United Kingdom or Australia.

The evidence is also clear in the fact that the average size of a constituency which Pakatan Rakyat candidates won had 77,655 voters compared to only 46,510 voters for a typical BN constituency.

Secondly, the fact that we have an imperfect electoral system in place is exactly the reason why the people are speaking up and expressing their disappointment and anger at the system.  It is the reason why hundreds of thousands of Malaysians have gathered in various cities over the past week to demand a better electoral system, be it a fairer distribution of voters in all constituencies or a thoroughly revamped proportional representation system, or a mixture of both as practiced in certain other advanced democracies.  It is the right of ordinary Malaysians to demand free and fair elections.

Dato’ Seri Zahid in his article is in effect denying these Malaysians their rights for a system which will better able to reflect the wishes of the citizens of the country.  Such arrogance and contempt by the newly appointed Home Minister and the current UMNO vice-president points to the fact that UMNO-BN has no desire at all to seek “national reconciliation” post the 13th General Election.

His comments also points to the hypocrisy of the new UMNO-BN government which the Prime Minister has promised to be inclusive and “transformative”.  It is the same arrogance and hypocrisy which has caused BN to lose its 2/3 majority in 2008 and the popular vote in 2013.  Such arrogance and hypocrisy will only lead to one inevitable result in the next general election, that is the rakyat will vote overwhelmingly for Pakatan Rakyat to ensure that no amount of cheating and gerrymandering will stop the tidal wave from sinking the BN party.

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Paul Low's Ministerial Appointment: The Test of Najib's Success or Failure

The appointment of Datuk Paul Low as a Minister in Prime Minister’s Department will be the barometer by which Datuk Seri Najib’s new 5 year reign as the premier will be judged.

The Cabinet line up provided many disappointments such as its bloated size, the inclusion of controversial characters with questionable repute.  These disappointment will be dealt with to varying degrees by my Pakatan Rakyat colleagues.

However, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sprung his only surprise with the “bold” inclusion of Datuk Paul Low, who is the current Chairman of Transparency International, as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

This “bold” appointment, will in fact decide the fate of Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his second term as the Prime Minister because it will determine if his administration is willing to carry out the far-reaching reforms necessary to ensure a clean, transparent and competitive administration as advocated by Transparency International.

With Datuk Paul Low, we look to seeing an uncompromising stance in the Government’s fight against corruption and cronyism, to uphold the Transparency International’s Integrity Pledge which Najib has himself signed.  The pledge demands that Najib’s administration will “observe the principles of truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in any way in corrupt practices.”

More generally, the pledge requires that the government “uphold and give priority to the interests of the Rakyat as a whole” as well as “practice good governance and transparency”.

While Barisan Nasional has trampled upon the above pledge before and during the General Election, with the blatant practice of vote-buying and media manipulation, the people of Malaysia still hope to see that the BN leaders have learnt their lesson after clearly losing the popular vote.

The first priority for the BN Government, with Datuk Paul Low acting as a “Transparency Minister”, is to immediately declare that all Government privatisation and procurement contracts will henceforth by awarded via open and competitive tenders with all details and information made in a transparent manner.

In fact all recently concluded procurement contracts, particularly in the defence industry as well as mega-privatisation contracts such as the RM5.3 billion West Coast Expressway, the RM2.2 billion Kinrara-Damansara Expressway, the Penang Port and KTM Bhd which have not been completed or where works have yet to commence, be immediately suspended pending a new open tender exercise.

The measures carried out by Pemandu under Datuk Idris Jala to date to ensure greater transparency have also failed to gain traction with many Ministries openly defying directives to publish the outcomes and details procurement contracts.  Datuk Paul Low must hence wield the uncompromising stick to enforce discipline among the many ministries to cut back on wastages, corruption and cronyism.

At the same time, we expect the new administration to be resolute in carrying out effective investigations against those who are corrupt, regardless of the position these powerful may hold in the Government.  For a start, the new Cabinet must immediately rebuke the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud for his outright refusal to cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) because the latter is “naughty”.  The failure to even admonish such behaviour will erase all “positive” perceptions arising from Datuk Paul Low’s appointment.

Most importantly, beyond the expected minimum of just acting against corrupt and opaque practices, we look to Datuk Paul Low to raise the bar of transparency in the Malaysian government by requiring that all Ministers and Deputy Ministers publicly declare their assets as had been done in both Penang and Selangor state governments.  The asset declaration is a critical element to regain public trust of the administration which has been riddled with corruption and abuse of power, contributing to a continuous decline of Malaysia’s rankings in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

Pakatan Rakyat will provide the fullest support to Datuk Paul Low to implement all necessary measures to ensure a clean, transparent and competitive government.  In fact Datuk Paul Low can afford to be the “bad cop” in the Najib administration because he will owe no political allegiance to any person or party.

However, we hope that the Najib administration isn’t just trying to have Datuk Paul Low’s impeccable credentials rub off on the former, without real and tangible reforms enforced.  Without such measures by the Prime Minister, Datuk Paul Low will only become a lame duck Minsiter, and his reputation severely tarnished.

The eyes and hopes of all Malaysians will be on the performance of Datuk Paul Low to check the rampant corruption in government.  We will not want to be disappointed.

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Selangor Win: Clear Endorsement for Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat’s overwhelming win in Selangor proves the people’s ringing endorsement of our 5 year term in power

Datuk Seri Najib Razak had made the capture of Selangor state his prime objective in the 13th General Elections (GE).  In fact, he made the infamous clarion call last year to “take Selangor back at all cost” and even appointed himself as the Director of Elections for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state, the first time a sitting Prime Minister is appointed to lead a state election machinery.

Despite the massive onslaught by BN, the outcome of the 13th GE in Selangor has proven Najib’s utter and complete failure in making any in roads in the state.  Not only did Najib not manage to recapture Selangor, BN lost additional 8 seats, allowing Pakatan Rakyat to capture 44 seats and leaving BN with only 12.

If not for the self-inflicted damage of a 3-corner fight between PAS and PKR in Kota Damansara, as well as another involving PSM and PKR in Semenyih, Pakatan Rakyat would have comfortably captured an additional 2 state seats, leaving BN with only 10.  In both these seats, the combined PKR-PAS and PKR-PSM votes overwhelm the votes obtained by BN by 5,783 and 1,423 votes respectively.

The resounding victory by Pakatan Rakyat is a ringing endorsement by the people of Selangor to our 5 years’ in power since 2008 where the state government has rolled out massive amounts of people-centric programmes via “Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor” as well as proving our competence in a clean and transparent state administration.

Strong increase in Malay support

What is the sweetest bit of our victory in Selangor is the massive increase in Malay support for the coalition, which has allowed us to significantly increase our seats in the semi-rural belt of Selangor.  PAS has successfully captured the Malay majority seats (% Malays in brackets) of Sabak (79%), Morib (59%), Paya Jeras (57%), Dusun Tua (53%), Tj Sepat (52%) and Taman Templar (51%).  This achievement was inspite of the relentless attacks by UMNO over the issues of race, religion and royalty on Pakatan Rakyat in the Malay heartlands.

DAP received multi-racial support

Similarly, for DAP, it would not have been possible for us to capture the seats we lost in 2008, Kuala Kubu Baru and Sg Pelek without increased support from both the Malays and Indians.  In these 2 seats, the Malay and Indian population comprises of 33% and 21%, 45% and 21% respectively.  The increased in support from the Malay and Indian community has allowed DAP to win both seats with majorities of 1,702 (2008: -448) and 1,972 (2008: -1,572) respectively.

Even in Telok Datuk, where Malays and Indians form 29% and 20% respectively, where DAP candidate won by only a marginal 698 votes, we have successfully increased our majority to 5,391 votes marking a significant increase in both Malay and Indian support.

Large increase in popular support for Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor

In terms of popular support, Pakatan Rakyat Selangor enjoyed a 4% increase in popular votes from 55.4% in 2008 to 59.4% in 2013 confirming that we have won over our doubters in 2008 with our policies and administration.  This result also cements permanence of Pakatan Rakyat Selangor as a highly credible political coalition, and not a “one-hit-wonder”.

Selangorians are discerning

The only blot in Pakatan Rakyat’s Selangor results was the loss of Bukit Melawati by 806 votes, reversing the 297 votes win in 2008 by PKR.  Under such marginal circumstances, the coalition’s past performance in the constituency may have affected the outcome of the vote.

However, this outcome and the narrow losses in several other state and parliamentary seats in Selangor proves that continued clean and transparent policies, and their effective implementation will enable us to win even more seats in the future.

Conclusion

The thumping endorsement from the rakyat for the Pakatan Rakyat state government is a clear cut thumbing of the nose at Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s leadership of the country and the state.  It is also a rejection by the people of Selangor of all races and religion, of BN’s divisive politics of race, religion and royalty.

While Pakatan Rakyat campaigned on a platform based on our track record and our administrative credentials in contrast to BN, BN’s only target of attack was the attempt to sow discord between races and religions.

The contrast in campaign messages and styles can be perfectly encapsulated by the victory of a moderate Khalid Samad of PAS thrashing BN’s Zulkifli Nordin, Perkasa Vice-President who is universally condemned as a racist and bigot.  In fact, we believed that Zulkifli’s candidature has played a crucial role in ensuring Pakatan Rakyat’s victories in Selangor with much larger majorities.

The challenge for Pakatan Rakyat Selangor in the coming 5 years will be to enable Malaysians outside of Selangor, especially in BN bastions to recognise our achievements and to realise that a vote for Pakatan Rakyat will be a step forward for them, and for their children in the next General Election.

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DAP PETALING JAYA CERAMAH SCHEDULE 2013

Our DAP Petaling Jaya candidates:

Petaling Jaya Utara Parliament: Tony Pua
Damansara Utama State Assembly: Yeo Bee Yin
Kampung Tunku State Assembly: Lau Weng San
Bukit Gasing State Assembly: Rajiv Rishyakaran

Our Ceramah Schedule:(All ceramahs start at 7.30pm)

20/4 Sat - SS2 Taman Bandar (commercial centre)Speakers: Tony Pua, Elizabeth Wong, Hannah Yeoh, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran

21/4 Sun - Taman Paramount (commercial centre, next to Giant)Speakers: Teresa Kok, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

22/4 Mon - SS4C/5 (commercial centre)Speakers: Charles Santiago, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

23/4 Tue - SS3 (covered basketball court next to Dewan Orang Ramai)Speakers: Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

24/4 Wed - Petaling Garden Jalan 5/46 playgroundSpeakers: Charles Santiago, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

25/4 Thu
(i) Pangsapuri Damansara Bistari (near SS2 Mall)
(ii) Pangsapuri Sri Aman (near Taman Paramount LRT)Speakers: Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

26/4 Fri - SS23 Tennis CourtsSpeakers: Teresa Kok, Tony Pua, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, Tiew Way Keng

27/4 Sat - Sungai Way Football Field (opp SRJK(C) Sungai Way)Speakers: Tony Pua, Teng Chang Khim, V Ganabathirao, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran

28/4 Sun - Seksyen 17 (commercial centre car park - to be confirmed)Speakers: Tony Pua, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

29/4 Mon - SS2 Taman Bandar (commercial centre)Speakers: Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

30/4 Tue - MBPJ Hockey Stadium, Jalan Selangor (near PJ Old Town Bus Terminal)Speakers: Tony Pua, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

1/5 Wed - Kpg Chempaka Basketball CourtSpeakers: Tan Kok Wai, Tony Pua, Ean Yong Hian Wah, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran

2/5 Thu - Seksyen 5 Jalan Gasing Satellite Carpark (near St Francis Xaviers Church)Speakers: Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

3/5 Fri - Seksyen 14 playground behind Digital MallSpeakers: Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

4/5 Sat - Finale (venue to be confirmed)Speakers: Tony Pua, Lau Weng San, Yeo Bee Yin, Rajiv Rishyakaran, others to be confirmed

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Najib Compares Himself to Mubarak?

By comparing himself to Egypt’s Mubarak, Datuk Seri Najib Razak publicly admits that Barisan Nasional is running a corrupt and authoritarian regime

UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak first warned Malaysians against the Arab Spring during the UMNO Hari Raya Open House in September. “Look at the countries in north Africa and the Middle East. We can learn from them that change is not always good,” he said.

He repeated his warning against yesterday at the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Annual Convention, warning against “change” or “Ubah” propagated by Pakatan Rakyat.

 “If we change, are we sure we’re getting something better? (The people involved in Arab Spring) are not enjoying the ‘spring weather’. They’re still in the winter of discontent,” Najib said.

By attempting to rally Malaysians against change as seen in the Middle East, is Najib not associating himself with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s corrupt and authoritarian 30-year reign?

Isn’t Najib not saying that no matter how corrupt, how authoritarian and how much abuse of power happens in the country, it is better to stick to Dr Mahathir’s “devil that you know” than to bring about “change” which is deemed “uncertain”?

What is different however, about change in Malaysia is the fact that it will be conducted through the ballot box to rid the country of a corrupt regime which has rule for the past 55 years, unlike the Arab Spring which was conducted to violent protests.

What is perhaps the critical differentiator between the impending change in Malaysia, which is so feared by BN, and that of the Middle East, is the fact that Pakatan Rakyat has already proven ourselves to be competent, accountable and transparent in our administration of the states we won in the 2008 general elections.

The recent BN land-grab expose by Sekinchan state assemblyman, Ng Swee Lim is a case in point.  While BN component parties were alienated land by the Selangor state during BN’s reign from 2000 to 2008 worth an estimated RM200 million, BN leaders have shown absolutely no remorse in such corrupt practices.

Selangor UMNO Information Chief Abdul Shukor Idrus, who is also the state assemblyman for Kuang who argued that “what’s wrong with giving the land to UMNO” as reward for the “contributions by UMNO in fighting for indepedence and developing this country”.

MCA Selangor Secretary and ADUN for Kuala Kubu Baru, Datuk Wong Koon Mun agreed with is UMNO colleague, claiming that there’s nothing wrong with alienating land to MCA, by comparing the political party to “temples and schools” which were also given land on the cheap.  He also insinuated that such land grab is justified by the effort of the party to register Chinese Malaysians to obtain their citizenship and “fighting for their rights”.

Datuk Seri Najib himself has chosen to remain completely silent over the scandal and refused to chastise his leaders for their “untransformed” feudal and corrupt mentality.

On the other hand, Pakatan Rakyat administration has made it a point not to alienate any land whether its component parties or its state assemblymen.  In fact, the Penang state government made it an explicit point that all its leaders will be banned from applying for land from the state to prevent the abuses seen during BN administration.

The transparent and accountable administration by the Pakatan Rakyat state governments have resulted in repeated surpluses in both the Penang and Selangor administrations.  Penang achieved a record budget surplus of RM138 million in 2011 after successive surpluses since 2008.  Similarly, the Auditor-General has also confirmed a surplus of RM180.5 million in 2011, a 45% increse from RM124.2 million achieved in 2010.  The finacial reserves of the Selangor state government has also increased from a mere RM400 million in 2008 to a whopping RM2.4 billion today.

Hence, the threat of a violent “winter of discontent” is nothing but an empty threat from an increasingly panicky Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional.  The threat, repeated umpteen times by UMNO leaders and its delegates during the just concluded UMNO general assembly appears to be their only weapon left, that is to scare the Malaysian voters in to submission and to prevent the corrupt BN government from being toppled in the coming general election.

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Donald Lim Talks Rubbish on Selangor Affordable Housing

On Tuesday 23 October 2012, Datuk Donald Lim claimed in parliament that the Selangor state government has not built a single unit of low-cost or medium cost housing during its four years of administration.

He said "Di Selangor sudah lebih empat tahun, sebiji rumah pun tidak dibina untuk rakyat Selangor sama ada kos rendah atau sederhana. Memang ini... " (Hansard 23/10/12)

After being "corrected" in Parliament, Datuk Donald Lim attempted to change his allegations in Parliament with a press conference yesterday.

This time, he alleged that of the 23,637 units of affordable homes planned for Selangor, only 287 have been built. He said that is barely 1% of the total number and hence it is as good as zero built.  He stated that this information is disclosed in the reply by the Selangor State Executive Council to the state assembly sitting in April this year.

We have checked the official response by the State Exco. It is true that "only" 287 units of low-cost units have been completed while 826 are under construction.

However, Datuk Donald Lim appears to have conveniently read only half the response by the state government.  The same reply to the Dewan also stated that 5,526 units of low-medium and medium cost housing have been completed!  The Minister had claimed that there were none built at all!

So out of the total of 23,637 low and medium cost homes planned by the state government, 5,813 has already been completed. This is a commendable 25% completion within a few years of administration. As a civil engineer himself, sure Datuk Lim would know that planning, approving and constructing houses isn't like ordering a plate of char koay teow, where you will be served in 10 minutes.

The 25% is a far cry from the 1% alleged by the Deputy Finance Minister and definitely not "zero" as misled by him in Parliament.

Today, we have made a site visit to Seksyen 3, Bandar Baru Bangi within the Serdang constituency with Bangi ADUN Shafie bin Abu Bakar on one of the soon-to-be-completed 124 units of affordable homes (picture attached). We have made an open invitation to the Selangor MCA Chief to visit the site or any other sites in Selangor since he claimed that he is completely clueless about low-cost and affordable housing projects in Selangor.

The Selangor Government is also building 135 units of affordable homes at Sungai Long (within Serdang constituency) to be completed before the end of the year. Other affordable projects in the state include one in Seksyen U10, Shah Alam, where 536 units will be built.  As an initial step, the state has set the price for affordable houses (800-1,000 sq feet) for middle-income earners at between RM85,000 and RM120,000.  Selangor residents with households between RM2,500 and RM5,000 can apply for it.  Those interested may purchase the application form at Level 5 of SUK Building, Shah Alam at the price of RM5.

We would also like to remind the Minister of 2 further issues. Firstly, the statistics above only covers projects directly under the state government and the subsidiaries it own.  It does not include the thousands of units built by the private sector as mandated by the state government.

Secondly, we would like to emphasize in no uncertain terms that the responsibility to build affordable housing is that of the Federal Government under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, headed by Datuk Lim's colleague, Datuk Wira Chor Chee Heung.  It is because the Federal Government has failed to fulfil its obligations that the state governments of Selangor and Penang are forced to step in to build affordable homes to ease the burden of the rakyat.

Datuk Donald Lim should hence get his own house in order first before attempting to discredit the Selangor Government under Pakatan Rakyat. He should also stop digging a deeper hole for himself by conceding that he has made a blunder in Parliament and withdraw his irresponsible remark that the Selangor government has not built a single unit of low or medium cost housing in the state.

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Donald Lim Lied That Selangor Did Not Build Low-Cost Homes

Pakatan flays MCA deputy minister for ‘lying’ about Selangor low-cost housing
By Clara Chooi, Assistant News Editor 
October 23, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — An MCA deputy minister found himself the target of criticism from angry Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers in Parliament today when he declared that the Selangor government has not built a single low-cost home in the state since it took over in 2008.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim made the claim when praising the federal administration for being considerate of the needs of the country’s lower-income group.

Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara) immediately stood up to demand that Lim correct his statement, accusing the Selangor MCA chairman of lying to the House.

Other PR MPs rapped on their tables to support Pua, with several standing to record their disapproval of Lim’s remarks.

But Lim ignored the protests and told Pua to sit down, even calling the DAP publicity secretary and other PR lawmakers “uneducated”.

When the House resumed committee stage debates on Budget 2013, Pua rose from his seat again to cite Standing Order 36(12) against Lim for allegedly misleading the House with an incorrect statement.

Standing Order 36(12) stipulates: “Any member who imputes statements that mislead the House is deemed to be in contempt of the House and the member may be referred to the Committee of Privileges for the offence.”

“I refer to the deputy minister’s answer to the House where he said that Selangor never built any low-cost housing for Selangor folk.

“I request that he correct this statement because Selangor has built 23,637 low-cost housing units, including reviving 9,176 units of homes from abandoned housing projects,” he told the House, to loud table thumps from his fellow PR MPs.

But Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee refused to entertain Pua’s request, saying that he does not agree that Lim had violated the Standing Orders.

Interjecting, Khalid Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) said that Lim had not only violated the Standing Orders but had deliberately issued a statement to mislead the Dewan Rakyat.

He pointed out that as a deputy minister, Lim would have full access to information to ensure that all his replies in the House are accurate.

“This is the reality. I urge the Speaker to giver serious consideration to this issue so that we can make sure that all future replies in the House are issued responsibly,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference late, Pua pointed out that apart from Selangor, the PR-led government in Penang has also built some 12,000 low-cost homes and allocated RM500 million for the construction of another 18,000 units.

Claiming that this is the largest allocation in the country, Pua stressed that the responsibility of providing low-cost homes to the poor lies with the federal government and not the state.

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Dr Chua Soi Lek Insults Voters

Soi Lek risks votes with audit report gaffe
By Clara Chooi
Assistant News Editor October 19, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek displayed ignorance and insulted the intelligence of Malaysians when he said the Auditor-General’s Report would not affect Barisan Nasional’s (BN) electoral support, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have charged.

The lawmakers said Dr Chua was underestimating today’s electorate and reminded the MCA president that the BN-led administration no longer has a monopoly on the dissemination of information to the masses.

On the flip side, they agreed that Dr Chua’s assertion would only serve the opposition well in the coming polls as if all BN leaders were of the same thinking, it was clear that they have failed to take cognisance of their past failures.

DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua reminded Dr Chua (picture) of the Election 2008 results, where BN and particularly the MCA had suffered its worst electoral losses to date, even losing five states and its coveted two-thirds parliamentary majority to PR.

“The times have changed,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP told Dr Chua. “The MSM (mainstream media) no longer has a monopoly over information, and the reported abuses tabled by the A-G can easily and quickly reach the ears of the voters... sentiments change quickly as witnessed in 2008.

“Hence the fact that CSL (Soi Lek) can still think that the AG report is trivial and a mere temporary distraction only proves that MCA has elected for themselves a leader who is trapped in the past, and a complete inability to connect and relate to the voters of today,” he told The Malaysian Insider over Blackberry Messenger.

For the full story on The Malaysian Insider, click here.

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Dr Mahathir Senile or Scheming?

Pakatan: We don't even know George Soros
Nigel Aw
1:33PM Oct 8, 2012

Pakatan Rakyat MPs have rubbished former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that a vote for the opposition would be akin to a vote for billionaire and former currency speculator George Soros.

"I don't want to involve the former premier because he is no longer relevant in our politics, but the words are those of someone who is senile,”  Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua told a press conference at the Parliament lobby this morning.

"We have no relationship whatsoever with George Soros. We don't know George Soros."

He said Pakatan has no Jewish agenda and that it, like the government, has always been supportive of the Palestinian struggle and against Israeli oppression of the state.

In a commentary published in the New Sunday Times yesterday, Mahathir had warned that voting for the opposition would be like voting for Soros, who he claimed was attempting to colonise Malaysia.

Pua also hit out at Mahathir for double standards on the matter.

"When Mahathir met Soros, he shook his hand and asked him to support his organisation (the Perdana Global Peace Foundation) to combat war crimes.

"When he asks for Soros' help, there was no problem. But when people vote for Pakatan, that's a ‘vote for Soros’ - there is no logic in this.”

For the full story on Malaysiakini, click here.

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Pakatan Is Ready To Rule

Pakatan says ready to rule Malaysia
By Mohd Farhan Darwis September 19, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 ― Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders are convinced of their fitness to govern the country if Barisan Nasional (BN) loses hold of Putrajaya in the coming polls, pointing to their achievements in the four states they currently lead.

The three-party pact of DAP, PKR and PAS now administer the states of Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan, following their historic electoral performance in Election 2008 when they denied BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.

DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua noted that in 2008, PR had not expected to make the gains it did, much less being voted into four state administrations.

“But we succeeded,” he said. “Now, we are really ready and that is proof that we are ready to rule.”

Today, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP added that it PR will be judged based on its policies and not just the personalities behind them.

“The policies are more important... it does not matter who becomes a minister, it is the policy (that matters),” he said.

“It doesn’t matter who is elected (from PR), we are definitely much better (than BN).”

[...]

Like Pua, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub also disagreed with the observers and recounted PR’s achievements in the states it governs as an example of the pact’s ability.

He said PR’s track record was strong enough to dispel doubts over the abilities of its leaders, even if they have never governed the entire country.

“I feel what is more important is our integrity and our track record... these are the most valuable assets that the PR governments have shown they possess.

“We have produced many qualified leaders who can be trusted... no misappropriation or abuse like leaders from BN,” said the Kubang Kerian MP, adding that he was proud of PR’s mentri besars and chief minister.

“For three consecutive years, the Auditor-General’s Report has proven that we have governed well,” he said.

Agreeing with her colleagues, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said that not only did PR’s track record prove its competence, the pact’s joint manifesto has also bound all three parties together and shown that they are a united front.

“World history and democracies have shown that it is the wants and choices of the people that will decide who should be given the mandate to rule.

“If the people’s aspirations are not fulfilled, the people will be the judge and select a replacement... on national level, almost all policies and issues of PR have been used by BN,” she said.

The BN coalition has been the only federal government since the country was formed, having previously ruled as the Alliance Party.

For the full story on The Malaysian Insider, click here.

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Najib Shows He Is Not Malaysian First

Bernama reported that the Prime Minister said that “the 13th general election is not an ordinary election. Instead, it will determine the survival of the Malays.”

He used the threat of “the survival of the Malays” to threaten Malays into supporting Barisan Nasional.  The Umno president said “Malays should realise that as the backbone of the Barisan Nasional (BN), Umno would be able to continue the struggle of the Malays and Islam.”

The above statements proved that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak failed as a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, especially as the nation celebrates the 49th anniversary of Malaysia Day today.

At the start of Dato’ Seri Najib’s premiership, he has made the “1Malaysia” slogan the cornerstone of his entire administration, which he defined as “every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second and where the principles of 1Malaysia are woven into the economic, political and social fabric of society” in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

However his exhortation to the Malays proved that the Prime Minister is more than willing to play the racial card to protect BN’s hold on power.  He has shown that he speaks not as the Prime Minister for all Malaysians, but an instigator of continued racial division in the country.

Dato’ Seri Najib’s speech also exposed the fact that like his Deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, they see themselves as “Malays first”, and not “Malaysians First” as defined in the GTP.  Tan Sri Muhyiddin had said in 2009 “How can I say I’m Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me and say that it is not proper.”

As we celebrate both our independence from our colonial masters on 31st August and formation of Malaysia on 16th September, a Prime Minister for all Malaysians should be extolling the virtues of a united nation regardless of race, religion, class or geography.  However, what we have is a Prime Minister who tells the Malay community that they are being attacked and threatened by the other races in the country.

It is hence not a surprise that Dato’ Seri Najib never reprimanded Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s public declaration that he is “Malay first” despite the clear contradiction to the 1Malaysia definition in the GTP. It is not a surprise because they both see themselves as “Malay first” and not Malaysian First.

This also shows that Najib’s “1Malaysia” is pretty on the outside, but empty on the inside.  The whole “1Malaysia” campaign is to present a false picture of Malaysian First, with no sincere leadership or intent build a truly Malaysian First country.

The Prime Minister’s position blots our 49th anniversary celebration of Malaysia Day and it raises the question as to why, after 49 years of nationhood, we are unable to elect a Prime Minister who puts the interest of all Malaysians, above that of a person’s race.  We can only hope that the Malay community will not be so easily threatened by Dato’ Seri Najib and will, together with all other Malaysians, pick a government that will be fair to all its citizens regardless of race, religion, class and geography in the next general election.

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