Ability to judge and assess something usually comes from experience, and often that experience comes from own poor judgement. Balan Kumar
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Shame On You, Ronnie, Anwar, Kit Siang and Co.
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..
Monday, July 20, 2009
Wanted : New Leaders For Pakatan Rakyat
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.
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.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
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).