How Things Have and Have Not Changed

Further to the March 8 elections, leading to the anti-climax on Sept 16 last year, things were looking good for Pakatan Rakyat, where we also saw Pakatan winning most by-elections and it’s leader Anwar Ibrahim, returning to Parliament. There also appeared to be too much of politics in the country leading to Sept 16.

Pakatan Rakyat as a whole was also in their element by setting up state governments in 5 states and handing out freebies while Barisan Nasional were in the brink of collapse, especially UMNO, while MCA took the opportunity to renew itself by the way of Ong Kah Ting not seeking another term. MIC became irrelevant with it’s leader going on a mission to re-brand the grand old party. MIC should have been renamed Samy Vellu & Family Party as part of the re-branding exercise.

One year later, we are seeing the situation reversed. BN’s win in Bagan Pinang brought back some cheer to Barisan, though it can be solely attributed to Isa long service to the constituency, more than a reflection of support for BN. It can be also said that Pakatan Rakyat was also disorganized throughout the campaign period.

Najib , who started with the lowest popularity ratings ever by a PM has regained some support of the Malaysians.Some of the policies changes and other economic measures received support from the corporate sector as well as the public. The upcoming budget is likely to have some people friendly measures that would definitely spur Najib’s popularity.

Pakatan Rakyat, on the other hand, is seen as in chaos. No discipline whatsoever, that would sum up the attitude of their leaders. Their decline started with the BN takeover of Perak. However unfair it may be, Pakatan Rakyat leaders behavior was nothing but crude, rude and unbecoming, no matter that they felt that they were victimized. Kugan and Teoh death brought back the anger of public, but then BN is not to be blamed entirely.

Conflicting statements from their Pakatan Rakyat leaders are nothing but an example of a coalition in distress. While Lim Kit Siang does, from time to time indicate that Pakatan Rakyat has to buck up, however their supreme leader has been forever in denial, claiming that BN and press are to blame for everything.

PAS revealed their true colours while PKR leaders continue to squabble in public, the recent being Zaid decision to take leave, when there is no need to, if ever he wants to concentrate on forming a formal coalition. PKR, whose leader dreamt of taking over as PM by the way of luring (or rather, buying) the support of mainly MPs of both Sabah and Sarawak, are now facing serious crisis in the very same states. DAP on the other hand, remains the only sane party in Pakatan Rakyat despite the drubbing they received over the Kampung Buah Pala issue.

From becoming a government in waiting, Pakatan Rakyat is now seen as a coalition that is found wanting. Nothing substantial has been achieved in the states that they govern. Election promises remains as texts in their manifestos while their leaders continue to behave like opposition. In the area that I am staying, I saw no substantial differences, except for increased dengue cases.

BN is also seeing crises within their coalition. MCA is still reeling from the decision of delegates to the EGM. No solutions seems to be in sight. I would have preferred the level headed reformist, Ong Kah Ting remained for another term. Chua Jui Meng headed for the problematic PKR. My prediction is he would not last long there as he is not the person who can survive rough politics. He should have joined DAP, where at least they would have respected.

PPP is also still affected by the continued defiance of Murugiah, who refuses to acknowledge that he is no longer in PPP or definitely not the President. Najib is also appears to be unsure as to how to handle Murugiah’s case. In general, Murugiah is seen to be effective and popular in his role as Deputy Minister, regardless of the problems with the party leadership.

MIC rebranding exercise last year has resulted in President renewing his term with the support of his own men at helm in the Central Working Committee. Samy Vellu was also pressured to leave, mainly due to the insistence of influential Dr Mahathir that he has overstayed his welcome. As defiant as he has been, Samy insists that he will hand over the reign to largely ineffective deputy before the next party elections.

Najib, not wanting to rely solely on MIC for Indian support, agreed to do something unprecedented, launching Malaysia Makkal Sakhti Party, run by a former Hindraf coordinator. The PM usually do not even attend AGMs of parties who supports but not a member of BN.

The recent UMNO general assembly showed that UMNO can also be rational when their leaders want to. No fiery speeches, except for the ones by Najib. ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ appears to have taken a backseat as this grand old party risk losing their grip on power for the first time ever if they do not change.

In summary, both BN and PR are in a mess and indirectly, the Malaysian public suffers due to selfish and irrational attitude of some leaders. Imagine how many policies, approvals and economic measures could have been stalled due to politicians holding government posts (both federal and state) distracted by internal political problems in their respective party. This is where party politics and democracy does not benefit the general population and we, Malaysians have seen a bit too much of this lately.

MIC : In Their Own World

That would summarise what happened over the weekend during the MIC Annual general Assembly. In what should have been a major change in party structure in order to rejuvenate the party, what we saw was the same old faces helming the top leadership.

Almost all other BN parties have seen changes in their leadership but despite massive failures in the general elections, MIC members are adamant that the current failed leaders are still needed.

Datuk Subramaniam failed challenge of Datuk Palanivel has been expected but this is certainly not a measure to rejuvenate the party, as these two politicians are nothing but spent force. Many thought Subra’s win can bring some hope of change, but this is not to be. Sothinanthan worked as the spoiler to Subra’s plans. While Sothinanthan is still young, Subra’s political career can be considered as good as over.

Subra may still have some options but he is unlikely to move to opposition, not after decades in BN.

Samy Vellu can proudly claim that he still commands support in the party, but the fact remains that more than half did not vote for his choice for Deputy. Even the vice presidents of his choice, won due to their own popularity, owing to decent performance in their respective government post, though they were nominated to the government post by Samy Vellu.

My only regret is that Dr Subramaniam ( the Human Resources Minister) should have contested the Deputy President post. He is credible, fluent in all three languages and appear to be well liked by all, not only in MIC.

The only consolation is that some young leaders have been appointed as Secretary General, Information Chief and Treasurer.

With this development, things can only go down hill for MIC. There’s nothing for Samy to be proud of. Almost approximately 70% of Indians voted for the opposition in the March 8 elections, and even with the Najib feel good factor, more than half Indians voters, mostly young voters, are still leaning towards the opposition. The main reason is they hate Samy Vellu and to a lesser extend BN.

Najib and even Mahathir’s hint for change was not heeded by the delegates. My interaction with the grassroots, right after the MIC elections, indicates that none will return if Samy remains. That’s a fact and majority Malaysians would agree. Many Indians only have harsh and disgusting words for Samy Vellu. His son and daughter-in law’s involvement in the party has only further infuriated many. They see this an attempt to turn MIC into Samy Sdn Bhd.

Pakatan Rakyat’s further decline in performance and lack of initiatives for Indians will ensure some votes return to BN. With this development, it is as if MIC has chosen to keep them out of the equation.

Rightfully members should be discussing on their lost of support and perhaps the outcome of the post mortem further to the general elections in the annual assembly, none happened and Samy Vellu summed up the issue by saying MIC lost support due to BN and not him. And the MIC delegates accepted that. That says a lot about their ability to gauge public sentiments. No further debates on this and they appear to be contented with President’s argument and some BN bashings throughout the assembly.

They appear to be happy with their current standings in the eyes of people. They appear not to be bothered with various criticisms and onslaught by Hindraf and Pakatan Rakyat Indian leaders. They appear to in their own world.

Unless some drastic change happens, MIC is likely to be completely wiped out in the next elections and they will eventually be where they want to be, in their own world.

1Malaysia Overdose

I am increasingly irritated by the 1Malaysia campaign. Not sure why people are so into this slogan as if this is something new. Even the corporate sector joined the bandwagon and riding on the catchy slogan with their glossy advertisements in the mainstream television.

While Najib’s massive campaign may have been positively welcomed by the rakyat, it has become an irritant and more so when his own party members are still within the old mindset as reflected in some of their speeches and not to mention various articles in Utusan Melayu.

While everyone blames Utusan Melayu for racist centric articles, the same can be said with Tamil newspapers and I was told, even Chinese newspapers. It’s just that all Malaysians can read Utusan while not all Indians or Chinese Malaysian can read Tamil or mandarin newspapers, what more Malays.

Unless Najib’s own party members reflect the slogan in their actions, this 1Malaysia will soon end up like “Gemilang, Cermerlang and Terbilang” in the next general elections.

1Malaysia maybe nice and catchy to some people, especially the kids, but it’s pointless if people chose to segregate themselves and the fact that we have a system that segregates children from young. And we all know that this systematic segregation is well supported by the same people who champion for 1Malaysia, Malaysian Malaysia and others similar slogans that are not popular.


On the other hand, if Malaysians really wants to be united, not just be seen to be united, they have to make sacrifices, I mean big sacrifice here. That would be the current generation’s biggest contribution to the next, and they will certainly be remembered centuries to come.

I am, of course, referring to the single stream school idea which has been reignited, read here.

If Najib and Muyiddin is serious about 1Malaysia, they should do their best to float a workable idea towards establishing one single school stream. It may not be appealing to Chinese and Indian educationist, or rather chauvinist, but an attractive and quality national school may work to attract non Malays back to national school. This may include introduction of English medium schools, which I believe will definitely attract all races.

With the race and racist sentiments hitting high notes recently, I had a first hand look on old 1Malaysia in one small cowboy town called Paloh in Johor. I attended a function held by my father’s friend, an Indian Malaysian. Whilst it was a small function, it was well attended by multi-racial crowd within the neighborhood. What was surprising it that, the non-indians outnumbered the Indians.

I had the opportunity to have a chat with the folk there. I gathered that most of them work in saw mills, estates, factories, transportation and small businesses catering to the residents there. I also realized that being in a small town, they, regardless of race, depend on each other for job, business and daily needs.

When they started talking about politics, one of them turned to me and said that ‘you educated people are the ones who are creating all kinds of problems for this country’. He further added that there have not been any racial problems in the small town ever. He also mentioned that their biggest problem ever was with the communist insurgency back then when Paloh was known to be one of the communist stronghold back then in Johor.

I was taken aback but not surprised with the accusation against KLites as there are certainly lots of truth in that statement. Throughout the conversation, everyone showed genuine warmth towards each other, as they have been for decades, something that I hardly see in KL. Life there is simple and slow but people are enjoying themselves and would not want a complicated life such as in KL even if given millions of Ringgit.

So 1Malaysia is certainly not new, but an old wine in a new bottle. And according to the folks in Johor, educated Malaysians chose to deliberately crack and eventually break the old bottle over the years.

Only Najib Can get rid of Samy Vellu

Samy Velu continues to be the most valued comedian in the country. However in the recent weeks, he has been under pressure, mainly from his former deputy, Datuk S. Subramaniam, who is seeking to retake his deputy president post.

Unlike in any other party where top leadership will not openly support any candidates, Samy Vellu went on and announced his preferred candidates for all post available at the central level. The list has numerous political deadwoods and over the hill loyalist of Samy Vellu or rather his ‘yes men’. Talk about rebranding.

It is said that MIC have gained some currency recently. It is mainly due to the fact that BN still gives ‘face’ to them, and also it’s long standing membership in BN. It is no secret that many leaders in BN component party thinks that Samy Vellu is an embarrassment to BN and prefers to see him out.

Pathetic Performance of Indian ADUNs and MPs from the opposition also led to Indian Malaysian looking up to MIC again, though in small numbers. Majority fence sitters and sympathizers will return only if Samy Vellu is no longer there.

Instead of indicating his path of retreat, he is now saying that he may remain up to 2015. He also roped in his daughter in-law to become’s Puteri’s deputy chief. His son, Velu Paari is already the so-called advisor to MIC Youth although it has been said that he calls the shots. Most of those in upper echelon of the party are already his relatives and close friends. There is no chance for outsiders and he might as well rename the party after his own name.

If Najib really bothered about sentiments on the ground, he should pressure Samy Vellu to give way as soon as possible or else MIC would still remain a liability to BN. Only Najib is in a position to do so and he'd better do it soon.

Guilty Unless Proven Innocent & Kickbacks

Details in the mystery letter received by Gobind appear to be flawed and inconsistent. It says that the alleged preparator, a senior MACC officer left the MACC building at around 6.10 while pathologists who testified clearly said that Teoh could have died anywhere between 8am to 9.30pm. Blogger Jebat Must Die has the story here.

It is quite mind boggling how the law works here, at least according to Gobind, although the Pathologist listed various reasons why Teoh’s death could be due to suicide, Gobind wants conclusive prove that it is not a homicide but a suicide.

When MACC revealed that commission were given to several DAP branches, he wanted it expunged from the records but he did not ask for the same when he put it to the client that MACC killed Teoh. His line of questioning continuously implies that MACC deliberately killed Teoh. But when, upon investigation, it was revealed that DAP did received kickbacks from several projects, Gobind was fuming. Hey, what double standards.

Here’s a comments by Malaysiakini reader, “It is easy for the police and the chemist to say there is no evidence to support a claim. But in such an important case, we would want them to prove it, what with all the materials in their possession’

It appears that the notion ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is applicable to Pakatan Rakyat and their lawyers only, while for the rest it’s “guilty unless proven innocent”.

It may still be found that a MACC officer may have been involved, but to blame the whole organisation (MACC) is like blaming the whole of DAP of being corrupt, where in this case, it is likely to be.

If DAP and their representative wants us to believe that they are squeeky clean, they must be either joking or dreaming. This is Malaysia, commission or kickbacks are a norm. Ask DAP members, supporters or sympathisers  to swear (like how Gobind asked the MACC officer to put up his hand and swear) that they have never given or  taken commission, you will hardly see any hands up. Even if you refuse, the giver will insists, it is part of our culture.

The same applies to other parties, organisation and normal people. It's just that the opposition and their supporters are hypocrites. We have an economy that runs on commission and anybody would be foolish enough to deny this fact.

MACC Should Just Do The Right Thing

Based on the recent developments , MACC is under tremendous pressure on top of Teoh’s case which is under intense scrutiny at the moment.

While it must be said that MACC has been understaffed and does not have adequate resources, there’s no reason why MACC should stop investigations on politicians. They may have to change their approach, especially when dealing with opposition politicians. Maybe they should treat the politicians as VVIPs, complete with Kompang and Bunga Manggar when they visit politicians.

Lim Kit Siang’s allegation that MACC are using Gestapho tactics are laughable, from the video footage, it was clear that political aide, Wong Chuan How was not even handcuffed and appeared to have agreed to follow MACC officers to the car and suddenly he tried to set himself free and that’s when the commotion started. If he would have followed the officers, none of the commotion would have happened. The root cause here is Wong.

Pakatan Rakyat’s accusation of double standards has, in terms of investigating politician has been torn to shreds here, where it is clear that more BN politicians and sitting assemblyman has been hauled up and charged while not a single Pakatan Rakyat MP or state assemblymen has been charged this year. Even after Teoh Beng Hock’s case, MACC went about their work and arrested a BN Terengganu State Assemblyman.

MACC would do better if it informs public on what has happened to the case of former Selangor MB, Azalina and scores of other cases. Perhaps a public relations failure there exploited well by the opposition. When they can issue letter of release to Jawi Assemblymen clearing him of corruption (an allegation by fellow DAP member), why these are not followed in all other cases. Even former Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, Fairus was investigated and later cleared by MACC, again the allegation came from his own party members.

MACC has also appointed a 30 man team to investigate PKFZ issue, hence Guan Eng’s reasoning that MACC is slow on BN related cases is simply not valid. The silence of the MACC advisory board in all these issues is puzzling though. Aren’t they supposed to defend their own men.

Recently, the state assemblymen for Seri Delima R.S.N Rayer said that all probe in relation to accusation of land scam has been dropped. Why so, with all DAP’s rhetoric’s of in pursue of justice and truth. Why Lim Kit Siang did not call for formation of Royal Commission of Enquiry to investigate the alleged land scam. What happened to their internal investigations headed by Deputy CM, Ramasamy, or Do Guan Eng has something to hide?

Selangor MB in the meantime also appointed a Internal Audit team to investigate all spending of all allocations to state assemblymen. Why he chose to do so is anyone’s guess since he claims those Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen are clean. What about Wee Choo Keong allegation, why has Khalid not formed a team to investigate Wee’s claims, Why the double standards?

Pakatan's Fellow ex-Perak MB Nizar also did the same when the then 2 PKR Assemblymen was arrested and charged for corruption. Nizar claimed that it was a trap set by MACC but immediately changed the tune when the 2 assemblymen chose to defect. What do you call this then.

Also when a BN man claimed that he was assaulted by MACC officers, wonder why didn’t Lim Kit Siang and gang kick up a fuss and call for Royal Commision of Inquiry? Why the double standards here.

Corruption is still corruption even though the amount is paltry RM 2,000 and there’s no reason why MACC should not investigate cases on Pakatan Rakyat’s assemblyman.

Pakatan Rakyat must realise that most of the allegation of corruption and impropriety came from Pakatan Rakyat members themselves and NGOs and not cooked up by BN, so there must be some truth in all these. If not, why worry if Pakatan Rakyat squeky clean members have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide? Time will tell.

We Will Never PAHAM Indian Malaysians

HINDRAF Not United

With the formation of Uthayakumar’s PAHAM (Parti Hak Asasi Manusia), Indian Malaysian votes are bound to be split further in terms of political allegiance. There are already substantial Indian Malaysians in MIC, PPP and Gerakan in BN, BN friendly IPF, MUIP, HINDRAF offshoot MMSP while also increasingly in PKR and DAP in Pakatan Rakyat and not to forget PR friendly PSM.

For a start, Uthayakumar failed to unite even his fellow ISA comrades. Each and every one of them went their own way after being released. How is he going to unite and get the support of the rest of Indian Malaysian is a huge question mark. Kg Buah Pala issue helped to boost Uthaya’s image, albeit for a while but just in time to launch his own party, PAHAM (Parti Hak Asasi Manusia). 

The other ISA detainees went their own way with former national coordinator, Thanenthiran forming his own party, Malaysia Makkal Sakhti Party, Vasanthakumar claiming to own the original HINDRAF registered as a company, Hindraf Enterprise while Gandibarao have yet to unveil his plans but made known clearly that he will not be joining Uthaya’s PAHAM. Another detainee, M Manoharan went straight onto his role as ADUN for DAP. 

Kg Buah Pala – Return Of  The Indian Hero 

Lying low after being released from ISA detention, Uthayakumar sprung into action on the Kg Buah Pala issue. He turned what was originally a land grabbing issue into a racial issue.

Taking a leaf from Lim Kit Siang’s book of ultimatums, Uthayakumar threatened Lim’s son, Guan Eng with various one week and two week ultimatums. Uthaya also reportedly promised to sleep in Kg Buah Pala in August, on the eve of the planned demolition of the village and fight. He asked villagers to prepare just a pillow and mat for him on the eve of demolition His ultimatum fizzled out soon after, and nothing much has been heard from him since and all of a sudden , Uthaya is now in UK for treatment for unique heart problem!

His brother Waytamoorthy, who is still holidaying in UK, continued his favourite pass time, continuous statements that do little to rattle Lim Guan Eng and the state government. The brothers did little to demonise the previous state government, alleged by many as the real culprit in alienating the village land to UMNO linked cooperative. 

After several ultimatums, Uthayakumar went on to focus on launching PAHAM and also to release his book ala ‘Mandela’ written while in detention.

Grassroot support for Uthayakumar and PAHAM has been lukewarm with only 3,000 people turning up for his release from ISA as well as during the launch of his party. Some people present was also disappointed that the event was somewhat turned to a book launch and fund raiser.

People known to me, many of whom participated in the demonstration in Nov 2007, expressed their displeasure of Uthaya forming yet another Indian based party, saying their respect for Uthaya would still be upheld if he would have chose to continue to fight on a NGO platform. His action in forming his own party has left many opposition supporters disillusioned and not sure who and what should they support.

Indian Malaysians Are Still With the Opposition

I can’t agree with Merdeka Centre survey recently that revealed 74% Indian Malaysians supports Najib. This figure seems far fetched. It maybe due to small number of Indian Malaysians respondents interviewed. While Najib did somewhat improve the perception on BN in the eyes of Indian Malaysians, real increase in support for BN is somewhat minimal.

MIC, after all the superficial re-branding exercise, has been largely unsuccessful in attracting Indians back to BN. They may have managed to get some ex-members back but these are the same group that failed the Indian Malaysians before. Samy Vellu’s reluctance to step down will ensure that they will never regain the support they once had.
Only BNs policies, handouts and Human Resources Minister Dr Subramaniam perceived good performance at national stage had resulted in some support for MIC and BN.

IPF and PPP are in turmoil of their own doing while small number of Indians is with Gerakan where their contributions are largely insignificant. In general, Indian Malaysians are still influenced by Pakatan Rakyat and it would require a lot of convincing for them to return to BN fold.

If my friends (mostly Pakatan Rakyat supporters) observation is valid reflection of sentiments on the ground, Indian Malaysian are beginning to be disappointed with Pakatan Rakyat’s increasingly shaky administration where they seems to spend more time squabbling rather than focusing on people’s problems. If this continues, Pakatan Rakyat will lose support of Indian Malaysians sooner than later.

PAHAM – Multi-racial Party?

PAHAM claims to be a multi-racial party with focus on marginalized Indians and not aligned to BN or Pakatan Rakyat. How can this party work independently in the context of a multi-racial country is anyone’s guess. PAHAM may get the support of gullible, uneducated Indian Malaysians who were in awe of Uthayakumar’s heroics and rhetoric ala Tamil Movie superstars, but unlikely to get the support of middle class and educated Indians. 

He mentioned that PAHAM are likely to contest in 15 parliamentary and 35 state seats. As you would have guessed, most of the seats are those with significant Indian voters but not the majority. Chances of them winning the seats are slim unless either BN or Pakatan Rakyat gives way. I will not be surprised if PAHAM lose their deposits in all their duels if both coalitions are contesting. 

Claiming to be multi-racial is easy, but I would be very surprised if PAHAM managed to recruit a single non-Indian as a member. If they continue to pursue their extreme 18 point memorandum, they are unlikely even to get a single non-Indian vote.

This strategy of claiming to be a multi-racial while focusing on Indians and Hindus seems to be non-starter and only gullible Malaysians will believe them. Sad to say that there are many of them (gullible Malaysians), hence this party may eventually end up like other mosquito Indian parties with some fanatical supporters.

Pakatan Rakyat Now PAHAM

Uthayakumar’s threat and demands on the Kg Buah Pala issue has forced Pakatan Rakyat to distance themselves from him and certain extend, the farcical entity called HINDRAF. Pakatan Rakyat leaders who defended Hindraf right after the 2007 demonstration and arrest of the 5 HINDRAF leaders have kept quiet. 

Indian Heroes in other parties in Pakatan Rakyat such as Manikavasagam, Gopalakrishnan and others Rakyat appears to be equally confused with Uthaya and Waytamoorthy’s constant attacks on Pakatan Rakyat. They are also afraid of losing their Indian support if they openly criticise Uthayakumar, hence keeping quiet is the best option for now.  

Anwar Ibrahim, who briefly became Indian Malaysian’s ‘Sivaji the Boss’, derived Indian Malaysians support mainly by taking advantage of mass support enjoyed by Hindraf and used the cries of ‘Makkal Sakhti’ when ending all his speeches. Anwar is nowhere to be seen now and never commented on HINDRAF ever since the elections. Except for occasional cries of injustice over the ISA detainees, HINDRAF has been largely forgotten after Pakatan Rakyat won big in 2008 and went on to form several state governments. 

Lack of gratitude and recognition by Pakatan Rakyat leaders is probably what made Uthayakumar angry hence his decision to go all alone. Pakatan Rakyat leaders also understood (PAHAM) and realized that supporting HINDRAF or PAHAM can be counter productive and even disastrous for their own political survival.

A recent opinion piece appeared on PKR’s Suara Keadlian suggesting that HINDRAF is racist and extreme, something that never appeared in Suara Keadlian when Anwar ‘ Sivaji the Boss” Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat were courting Hindraf before the general elections. Talk about media spins and politics. Perhaps Suara Keadilan momentarily lost their voice (Suara) when Hindraf first emerged.

Indian Malaysian Leaders Failed Big Time 

With many Indian based political parties, are the Indians better served and represented? The answer is clearly a big NO. 

Indian Malaysians votes were crucial in Pakatan Rakyat’s win in Penang,
Perak, Selangor and to a certain extend Kedah where Indian Malaysians voted for PAS.
What did they get in return? No different from BN, some piece meal assistance and handouts. The difference is that BN has far more money and power.

No single Pakatan Rakyat state government has came out with some blue print on how to assist Indian Malaysians and except for some heroics here and there, defending the Indian Malaysians (eg Kugan’s death), Pakatan Rakyat’s Indian Leaders has been largely ineffective and some even became the laughing stock in the DUN and Dewan Rakyat. Some of them have successfully branded themselves as extreme Indian Malaysian heroes that they are sure to be booted out by the majority non-Indian voters in their constituency in the next elections.

BN based Indian parties has, as usual been largely been making up the numbers in the coalition. With or without them, there would not be much of a difference.

Self Realisation & Mindset Change Required

What they need is not political leadership or political party. There are plenty of opportunities in Malaysia. Of course, there are many obstacles when faced with government’s bureaucracy, but there also are ways to overcome those.

Indians can survive on their own if they can focus and invest on education (and continuous education) and not on jewelries. They also need to cut down on their excesses especially on ludicrous cultural belief and traditions, spending on all things Hindu, gambling and alcohol. This alone will reduce more than half of their problems.

In terms of leadership, what Indians really need is a leader like Mahathir who dares to criticise his own race, while being in power and afterwards. Have we ever heard HINDRAF or any Indian Malaysian leaders criticizing Indians for many problems that are actually their own doing? Never, if not who will support them!.

I haven’t heard any Indian leader who criticise Indians for spending hundreds a week buying lottery/ Magnum 4D but failed to buy a single English or Bahasa newspaper for the children to read.

Have we ever heard Indian leaders calling on Indians to stop building temples as there are far too many in existence? Recent case to this point is the launch of RM 3 Million glass/crystal temple in Johor Bahru. Imagine how many scholarships would RM 3 million financed and how many families would have benefited. But every other Indian leader criticized government’s allocation of JPA scholarships. Indians in general also likes to glorify something like the crystal temple while failing to realise that the money could have been well spent elsewhere. 

I have also never heard any Indian Leaders demonizing Indians for their habit of borrowing for everything that’s done in the name of culture and tradition. Excessive amount of money is spent in the name of preserving culture and tradition, never mind if their children lacked the resources for their education.

Caste segregation, domestic violence, gangsterism, marginalization and violence against women are hardly discussed, what more criticised! These are still widespread and Government is blamed for issues like stateless Indians when this is a basic requirement well known and publicised for decades.

It’s not just the politicians that need to change. This is a society where race, caste, pride and ego is more important than children’s education or family financial well being and no one leader has tried hard to reverse this communal disorder.

Every leader that came only told the community to thump their chest and be proud about themselves, their culture, tradition, no matter how ridiculous and wasteful some of it was. They do this all the time to boost their ego and inadvertently let the community continue to believe in their flawed way of life for decades.

Unless Indian Malaysians, especially Hindus, critically analyse their own failings, even god can’t help them, what more politicians. This is proven by the fact that 13,000 temples in Malaysia seems not to be helpful, if the claims of decades of ethnic cleansing, marginalization and discrimination is in fact true.

Shame On You, Ronnie, Anwar, Kit Siang and Co.

 What if the situation is reversed, I thought for a while and realized that the outcome would have been somewhat different. 

What if an aide to a BN MP/Adun was found dead at the MACC building. The situation and events preceding the death would have been completely different. Police would have had no problems investigating and MACC would not have been blamed for the death without a shred of evidence.

Anwar Ibrahim, Lin Kit Siang would have never screamed for Royal Commision Of Enquiry. There would not have been any protest or candle light vigil in front of the MACC building. In fact, when a criminal suspect (Kugan) died in custody, only Indian Heroes from both end (Pakatan Rakyat and BN) made a big fuss but no Royal Commision Of Enquiry was ever demanded. In fact, no Royal Commision Of Inquiry has been ever formed to investigate any death in this country. Why now? Why Pakatan Rakyat never demanded Royal Commision Of Enquiry for release ofvarious individuals accused of murder, drug possesion etc due to technicalities of lack of evidence? Where were Pakatan Rakyat then, the so-called defenders of justice.

What appears to be a sudden death that has yet to be fully investigated, Opposition politicians certainly politicized and turned it into a racial issue. Theresa Kok’s reportedly accused MACC of being racist and that only Chinese politicians were targeted by MACC. What she did not realise is that by accusing others of being racist, she herself has acted like one. With due respect to Teoh, unnecessary memorials were held to stir public emotion and Anwar also used the issue in his rallies. And all of us know that the investigation has just concluded. The opposition has already declared MACC quilty and police of cover up.

In this case MACC appears to be the target, mainly due to various prejudiced views of the Opposition parties and their supporters, no matter that far more BN politicians has been investigated and charged this year. Not a single Pakatan Rakyat MP or assemblymen has been charged this year, according to checks by Malay Mail.

What if this happened soon after Anwar Ibrahim becomes the PM and Lim Kit Siang is his deputy. Would he demanded Royal Commision Of Inquiry before police completes their investigation? Would he accept full responsibility of any death in custody and blame institution under his own care? It is like asking ‘would you accept full responsibility for someone who somehow drops dead in compound of your house’?

What if even now, a DAP member (touch wood) if found dead in their headquarters, would Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng accept responsibility and blame? What if an employee of Selangor state government faces the same fate, would Khalid Ibrahim accept full responsibility for the tragic event even before the investigation is completed? What more with all the accusation of underworld links in Selangor and now Johor.  

While no one, at this juncture knows what happened, is it wise to speculate and hurl accusations, especially when there are no evidence? When MP Wee Choo Keong claimed that certain Exco in Selangor has links to underworld, Ronnie Liu jumped and asked Wee to produce evidence. Where was the evidence when Pakatan leaders hurl numerous allegations against BN in their speeches and rallies, example the Saiful Bukhari, Altantunya affair etc.

I agree that MACC may have been slow or selective in their investigation of BN politicians but the fact remains that BN had more of it’s members investigated and charged this year This is apart from various head of government department being charged for corruption recently, something that is beyond the control of BN politicians, but they are impacted anyway in terms of public perception. If Pakatan is serious, they should have sent a memorandum to the Advisory Board of MACC, some of whom are eminent individuals respected by all. I maybe wrong, but I never heard or read that this was done by Kit Siang, Anwar and Co.

Knocking and breaking mortuary door is certainly not an act of a mature leader and clearly disrespect to the dead. They did the same in Kugan’s death. Even if a MACC officer is eventually found quilty, let law takes it’s course and that doesn’t mean the whole institution is to be blamed. It is as if saying if a Pakatan Rakyat member is guilty of corruption, the whole Pakatan Rakyat is corrupt. Would Mr lim Kit Siang accept the fact and declare himself to be part of a corrupt party if any of DAP member is found quilty one day?  

This situation (Pakatan Rakyat member found quilty of corruption) will happen one day, let’s see how they react. It nearly did in Perak when two former PKR members are charged for corruption. Do you remember how MB Nizar reacted to this, “a trap by BN” and changed the tune when the two defected to BN. The fact remains that the two were charged for corruption as PKR members and also member of the state government helmed by Pakatan Rakyat, if anyone really care to remember!

There’s no reason for behave the way they did, taking advantage, playing mind games and scoring political points out of a tragic event, to bolster their flagging popularity, which is even more disgusting, shameful and tragic as compared to the actual death. Shame of you, Pakatan Rakyat..

Wanted : New Leaders For Pakatan Rakyat

 Referendum?

When Pakatan Rakyat won the last few by-election, Anwar say that they are referendum on BN and when they won big in Bukit Gantang and Penanti, Anwar says that they are referendum on Najib. When PAS barely won in Manik Urai, where there were more spoilt votes than the majority, Anwar says that this is a small by-election and nothing to worry about while his cheer leaders in Pakatan Rakyat claims a win is a win. If PAS would have won by say 2,000 votes, he would have declared that Najib is unpopular and should be replaced by you know who.

They also chose to ignore that although BN lost in many by-elections before, they still commands support in big numbers, no matter that the majority won by Pakatan Rakyat is bigger.

When Centre For Merdeka Studies polls few month ago showed that majority Malaysians prefers Anwar over Najib as best person for the PM job, Pakatan supporters were jubilant and when the similar study recently showed Najib has gained some support, Anwar rubbishes it saying that these are Mainstream Media spins to glorify Najib while his partner Lim Kit Siang says that the survey results provides a challenge to Pakatan. So who is right and who is trying to run away from the issue.

Media Spin Or Pure Indicipline?

When there were few issues within Pakatan Rakyat recently, Anwar again reiterated that the media is at fault for blowing issues out of proportion. The fact is that Pakatan Rakyat leaders are the ones to call media for press conference and announce their stand or argument. Good example is DAP Kedah who invited press for the announcement of pulling out of Pakatan Rakyat Kedah.

Even PAS, UMNO unity talks reflected as ‘Crisis of confidence’ by Lim Kit Siang but Anwar in a statement says this is an attempt by BN to split Pakatan Rakyat and it is BN who is trying to manipulate the issue, when actual fact, the whole issue was started by PAS during their annual conference. When Anwar spoke, PAS president was sitting next to him, with no shame or sense of guilt whatsoever.

Pakatan Rakyat Leaders says that the recent liberalization announced by Najib is a copy of what they have proposed long time ago while PAS President opposed to the move saying that the Malays are not ready and wants the 30% quota upheld. On the other hand, Nik Aziz goes everywhere and preaches that there is no such thing as race in Islam. So who is spinning here?

Now that trouble has started brewing in Pakatan Rakyat Selangor, wonder who Anwar will blame now, perhaps NST, Utusan or the new kid on the blog, Malaysian Mirror. Azmin could have easily brought up any issues directly to the MB or if there are doubt about MB Khalid, he can go directly to Anwar. Azmin must have his own agenda to do what he did and Anwar probably behind it. Or is it times up for MB Khalid if Ex-Penang DCM Fairus resignation is taken as precedent.

In Penang, Jeff Ooi lashed out at two Pakatan Rakyat Councillor for their performance. Aren’t there any other avenues to raise this rather than through press. Everyone appears to behaving like loose canons protecting their own turf and somewhat forgotten what they promised before the elections. The same applies to various nonsensical outbursts by Kulim MP.

Talk Is Cheap But Rakyat Is Watching

And also see how they have played hide and seek in Kampung Buah Pala issue, blaming everybody except for themselves. Lim Guan Eng is certainly not winning any points for this. He may have not promised anything before the general elections but villagers there (in fact a PKR leader) claimed that senior PKR leaders certainly did and their ADUN even reportedly declared that the developer can only destroy the village ‘over his dead body’. Now is this some BN media spinning or a case of over- promise and under-delivering.

Lim was also taken aback by Anwar’s response of former Chief Minister Ahmad Fairus resignation as well claims that the new bridge should not be where it is while Lim earlier said that there are no issues with the bridge. Not sure who is spinning here.

Pakatan Leaders, especially Lim Kit Siang criticized Najib’s various goodies on his 100 days in Office but did he say the same thing when his son did the same soon after taking over the Penang State Government or when Selangor government announced lots of freebies such as free water etc.

Lack Of Leadership in Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat should realise that there’s absolutely no leadership in Pakatan Rakyat. There are no mutually understanding relationship between parties and no discipline whatsoever. Most of their problems now are their own doing and there appears to be lack of will or leadership to manage problems within the loose coalition and resolve it amicably rather than going to press all the time. 

When press reports news as it is, like the DAP Kedah’s press conference on TV, they are still considered a spin by Anwar. As observed by many Pakatan Rakyat supporters themselves, they are behaving more like opposition and not the government of the day. Many supporters also agree of their ADUNs and MPs are of poor quality and may end up being a liability in the long term unless they are monitored and disciplined when necessary.

They should heed Karpal Sing’s outbursts that Pakatan Rakyat needs fresh leaders and they should forget Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Nik Aziz and Abdul Hadi as they have
clearly shown that they are only good in talking and not manage their party or discipline their members.

Anwar Ibrahim or Wan Azizah can even manage their own party, how do they expect Anwar to manage such a fragile coalition? Just imagine if they are the government of the day. They will end up contradicting each other every other day since they are the government and they will always be in the limelight. 

No Leadership Change or Renewal In Pakatan Rakyat

It must be noted that while BN had their leaders replaced and renewed many times over, including change of 3 Prime Ministers in the last 6 years and various changes in the the cabinet and components parties, except for MIC, Pakatan Rakyat are still helmed by the same old leaders, who don’t appear to be inspiring at all nor do they look like future national leaders. There are some promising young leaders in Pakatan Rakyat but they unlikely to be trust in the forefront as long as the current dinosaurs are still around. 

A Clinical Psychologist used to tell me that you will see the true colours of a person or organisation when observing how they react and behave when in crisis. We saw some of it from BN component parties’ right after the general elections and throughout 2008 and we are seeing it now with the antics of Pakatan Rakyat leaders, led by their supreme demigod.

Teoh Death A Boost?

Certainly, no doubt about that, the impact if not similar, maybe bigger than Kugan’s death.

Pakatan rakyat seized the opportunity to turn Teoh’s death into a political issue and inadvertently united the squabbling faction in Pakatan Rakyat, which also boosted their image in the eyes on the public. But their statements and behavior of some leaders during the protest are anything but exemplary. Blaming the whole institution for the death is ridiculous especially when doing so without knowing any details of events, investigation or autopsy. Breaking down the door of the mortuary is certainly not an example to follow.

How long can this sustain depends very much of the outcome of investigation of Teoh’s death while if there are no efforts to manage their internal crisis well, they will lose credibility and support anyway.

As we are all well aware, Malaysians have short memory and if Najib can boost his popularity within 100 days in office, Pakatan Rakyat can either match him or go further down hill in matter of months. It all depends on good leadership, something that Pakatan is sorely lacking.

Prioritise Reforms

Najib’s so-called economic reforms are not likely to bring benefits immediately, although it may bring about some feel good factor. The earliest indication of benefits to the economic reforms are likely to be seen and felt only next year. 

Najib and team should quickly capitalise on the lean economic period to reform all the tainted government institutions such as MACC, Police and Judiciary. Before even that can happen, several tainted individuals such as the IGP, MACC head must go and they must go now. 

IPCMC must be brought to reality to prove that Najib and his cousin Home minister is serious about reforming the Police while several eminent persons, who sit on the Board of MACC must make their presence felt and take appropriate measures to restore the credibility of the institution. Take Teoh's death as an opportunity to clear the mess in these insitutions. 

The Day No One Listened To Rakyat

Please read here on MCA's proposal to fine tune the PPSMI policy.

What I don’t quite understand is that why MCA is barking on this now, not when the proposed changes where tabled at the cabinet meeting. As far as I am aware, they were previously against teaching of Science and Math in English and never proposed any alternative to boost English. Why now when the DPM says that the decision is final. Perhaps they are doing this further to severe backlash from parents as evident from many polls conducted recently, including those tens of thousands in Dr Mahathir’s blog.

This is what happens when politicians listens too much to NGOs and racist education groups. The same applies to Tamil education groups and headmasters. The same group of Tamil School Headmasters, who agreed to the policy change in 2003, reportedly welcome the policy change announced by DPM together with the mindless politicians in MIC.

We also hear grouses by DAP and others who are not so happy with the transition that is to take place in 2012 affecting students, especially those in form 4. Again why is this never brought up when they were busy protesting the PPSMI policies in cahorts with the Chinese Educations Groups, NGOs and fellow partners in Pakatan Rakyat. What is the difference if the policy is reversed effective next year or even immediately as proposed by Chinese Education Groups.

Everyone says” do not politicise education” but everybody, including BN and Pakatan Rakyat politicised the PPSMI issue to the hilt. Pakatan Rakyat even lead a march towards Istana Negara opposing the policy together with members of NGO, so-called nationalist and Tamil and Chinese education group.  

When faced with backlash from parents, they now offer various forms of protest in disguise when the policy is finally overturned. Where was Lim Kit Siang when Anwar Ibrahim led the so-called 100,000 people gathering the protest in KL on March 2009?

These politicians (including BN) , NGOs and Educations groups monopolised the rountable discussions with the Education Ministry and deprived parents of their views. As Dr Mahathir’s blog has proven, majority urban parents would like the policy to continue. The mistake is that Dr Mahathir failed to undertake such a poll before the policy change was announced.  

How come none of the so-called education groups or nationalist spoke about almost 70,000 non-Chinese students (Majority are Malays) who are enrolled in Chinese schools.Why is that it’s fine for them to study Maths and Science in Mandarin in Chinese schools as opposed to English? This was deliberately and conveniently left out from the public discussion.  

The same applies to Malaysians whose mother tongue is other than Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin or Tamil such as Bajau, Dusun,Dayaks, Ibans, Bidayus, Punjabis, Malayalees, Telugus, even kelantanese and various ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak. Why is that these groups were left out and where were the defenders of the monority?

As a parent and employer, I feel disgusted and dissapointed with the failure of politicians (BN and Pakatan), so-called nationalist and education groups to listen to people. At least a referendum should have been undertaken, no matter how complicated the process could have been or the matter should have been left to vote by Parents Teachers Association of every school so that they decide and excess English teachers could have been redistributed accordingly elsewhere. 

As for Pakatan Rakyat, this is certainly not a win for  Makkal Sakhti (people’s power).