(Rappler) - 'OPEN' CHURCH. Pope Francis kisses the feet of prisoners, including a Muslim, in this year's Holy Thursday service. 

Having blasted a self-centered Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Wednesday, May 22, criticized “intolerant” believers who think, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good.”

The Pope said all human beings, whom God created, “have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil.” He stressed this applies to “all of us.”

“'But Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.' Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him,” Francis said in Wednesday's homily at the Domus Santae Martae, his modest papal residence.

The Pope, who has consistently urged the Church to “come out of herself,” said intolerance will do the Church no good.

“Instead, this 'closing off' that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”

'Let's meet'

Despite differences between believers and non-believers, he said their common denominator is doing good. He said the commandment to uphold goodness is a “beautiful path towards peace.”

“If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good,” Francis said.

He continued, with an atheist's possible response in mind: “'But I don't believe, Father, I am an atheist!' But do good: we will meet one another there.”

Read more at: http://www.rappler.com/world/29788-pope-atheists-good 

The US$1,700 entrance fee to Taib’s showcase dam building conference, which opened at the Borneo Convention Centre today, is well beyond the means of all the poor folk who stand to be affected by his catastrophic plans to swamp Sarawak.

Sarawak Report 

However, they gathered in protest outside and made their voices heard and their presence felt anyway.

Taib had made provision for a group of selected stooges from Murum and elsewhere to be allowed inside the conference to give an impression of native support.

However, at least 300 demonstrators had made their way to Kuching to protest outside and they claim that it is they who represent the majority of their people and they demanded to know why they too have not been allowed representatives to attend the International Hydropower Conference?

Baram’s contested seat

Thanks to today’s protest International delegates from the dam building industry can no longer be in any doubt that if they get involved in SCORE they are betraying the ‘Sustainability Protocol’ they claim to uphold.

This Protocol requires proper information for and consent from native communities affected by dams; proper environmental assessments and an overall consensus that there is no sensible alternative to a dam being built.

None of this has been achieved with any of Sarawak’s dams so far, including the Murum Dam now completing construction.

To the contrary, Taib’s extraordinary SCORE programme is being pushed through against massive native opposition and with no justification other than that the Chief Minister reckons it is a pretty fine way to get even richer than he already is.

Richard Taylor, the Executive Director of the International Hydropower Association comes out to say he is ‘listening’ 

The dispute over the results in the Baram seat at the recent election is also a heightened embarrassment.

Taib will want to tell delegates that he won this seat and that this shows the popularity of his projects.  However, everyone in Malaysia knows Baram is the most disputed of the marginal seats that are now coming under scrutiny for blatant rigging earlier this month.

Usual intimidation by riot police, but the occasion passed off peacefully

This rigging concern comes on top of the existing gerrymandering and the refusal to enfranchise well over half the population in key areas and also after the outrageous bribery of impoverished voters.

Despite such disadvantages and the iron control of the media and all government employees by BN, the Baram count was first won by the opposition candidate Roland Engan.

Engan had fought his anti-dam focused campaign against the huge power and wealth of BN in this enormous seat, where government types travel by helicopter while the rest struggle about in longboats or on useless state roads.

But after the initial declaration in favour of Engan, the far too familiar scenario of lights going out in counting centres and disputed counts set in.  Eventually, lo and behold, when the lights came on and the ‘confusion’ cleared, Engan was judged by BN’s tame Election Commission to have lost Baram after all, by Malaysia’s slenderest majority of 198 votes!

Baram is one of the key seats that is due to be contested by PR in court and the full details of this particular scandal and of Taib’s overall handling of elections in his rural seats will come under scrutiny then.

Read more at: http://www.sarawakreport.org/2013/05/protestors-make-their-voice-heard-at-hydro-power-conference/ 

(Huffington Post) - This man has given a platform for other men to act (rape) and then get away with it (marry the victim). 

Or watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz-RnaDRPo0 

In an unfortunate turn of events in a Malaysian rape case, a 40-year-old man accused of rape has married the teenage victim.

Riduan Masmud was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl last February. On Monday, his counsel Loretto Padua revealed to the court that Masmud is now married to the young girl he was accused of assaulting. As The Daily Express notes, Padua had previously told the court that Masmud was in the process of seeking a lawful marriage to the teen in Syariah Court -- a separate court system that has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to Islamic law.

While the prosecution must make a decision by June 6 on whether to pursue the statutory rape charge in light of the news, on Wednesday, Malaysian Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail vowed to press on in the case, Ntv7 News reports.

Malaysia's Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development is also advocating that Masmud be prosecuted. Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim told Bernama, Malaysia's national news agency, the ministry is concerned that Masmud's action may set an example by providing an escape route in cases of statutory rape.

"In order to protect public interest and prevent such incidents, the Ministry urges that the man be charged under Section 376 of the Penal Code in the Sessions Court or Section 80 of the Sabah Syariah Offences Enactment 1995 in the Syariah Court for having sex outside of marriage," she told the news agency.

The rape, which allegedly took place in a parked car in Sabah around 10 a.m. on Feb. 18, was not brought to light until the 13-year-old's aunt filed a police report. Masmud, who has four children with his first wife, was charged with the crime 10 days later; however the teen later withdrew her report of rape on April 18, The Star reports.

Masmud, for his part, is defending the marriage. Outside the courtroom Monday, he explained to reporters that the marriage was consensual.

"There are many cases of men marrying underage girls. I do not see why my case should be any different," the man said, according to The Star.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/malaysian-man-rape-marries-victim_n_3321086.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003 

There is no doubt in my mind that with the highly questionable way Barisan Nasional has won this election and subsequent divisive statements by Najib, his ministers, and UMNO loyalists, and the unjust crackdowns on Adam Adli, Haris Ibrahim, Tian Chua and Tamrin Ghafar, we can expect to see even more citizens rising up to play a direct and active role in the political process of this country. 

Thomas Fann 

The 13th General Election is over and the result showed that majority of Malaysians wanted to “Ubah”, that is, to see change. Many who have worked hard for it are disappointed with the outcome but we realise that we must move on and prepare ourselves for GE14.

We salute the tireless efforts of politicians and civil society leaders at the forefront of this push for change. Many of them travelled the length and breadth of this country, keeping an insane schedule for the past few months just to make themselves heard at the hundreds of ceramahs or rallies across this nation. It was almost a superhuman effort. Though they have lost the battle to take Putrajaya this time, they are still heroes of this struggle for a better Malaysia.

But this struggle is not theirs alone. Throughout these last few years and especially in the last few months in the run-up to the 5th of May, it has been my absolute privilege to have served together and to have known ordinary Malaysians from all walks of life who shares a common passion for this country. To me they are no less heroic in their efforts and their sacrifices are no less significant. I want to sing the praises of some of these unsung heroes of GE13.

• Felicia is a Malaysian who has lived in Singapore for many years, never registered and never voted before. Just after Parliament was dissolved and election called, she checked her voting status at the SPR’s website and found herself registered not only as a voter but as an advance voter in Putrajaya. Not wanting anyone to cast her vote on her behalf, on 28th April, the day advance voters were supposed to vote, she got into her car very early in the morning and drove the 340km from Singapore to Putrajaya to cast her vote by 9am and then turned around and head back to Singapore.

• I met Boon at the campaign office of a candidate. He has volunteered himself to help out with some of the administrative stuff there and we got talking. I found out that Boon and his family have been living in the UK for many years but have keenly followed the political developments of Malaysia and decided to fly home with his wife to cast their votes, for the very first time.

There were probably thousands of folks just like Felicia and Boon, Malaysians who live and work overseas who came back to vote. Some thoughtless individuals might have considered these overseas Malaysians unpatriotic but I challenge them to find me more committed people than these, who came home at great personal expense to cast their one vote. For them it was more than a vote but a stake in the future of this country, a country they love.

• When the call went out for volunteers to serve as polling and counting agents, literally tens of thousands of Malaysians came forward to be trained and deployed on Polling Day to do their part for a clean and fair election. Many came out with no expectation of payment and if they received any allowances for their services, they donated back these allowances. Money cannot buy such people and they can’t be bought, they are priceless.

• Thanks to the news of foreigners being flown in to vote in our election, thousands of citizens came forward to volunteer as election observers or as “ghostbusters”, standing guard under hot sun or rain outside polling stations. At several of the polling stations I visited that day, I saw between 30-50 residents standing outside their own polling stations until polling ended and for some, they followed the ballot boxes all the way to the main counting centres. All this they did on their own accord without anyone telling them what to do.

• Ariff and his friends were one of those who stood guard outside a main counting centre. At around 10.30pm they saw a taxi bringing in additional ballot carriers with a uniformed but unnumbered policeman in it. They stopped the taxi and challenged the legality of such last minute additional ballots. The taxi turned around and sped off with them in pursuit by foot.

• In the early hours of May the 5th, a factory manager in Johor found out from his HR manager that 100 of his foreign workers were not turning up to work. They told the HR manager that their agent was coming to fetch them to collect ICs so that they could vote. The factory manager rushed to the police station to make a report and with the report he managed to stop the workers from voting. But he didn’t stop there. He made copies of the police report and pass it to as many election observers as he could find so that they would be on the lookout for foreign voters. A true patriot!

• Ben and his wife went to cast their votes early and decided to stay back to help those who were queuing up to check their salurans (channels) number. They told those who already knew their numbers to go straight to join the queue at the saluran so as to save some time. But their efforts to help were not appreciated by the SPR officer-in-charge who insisted that all must check for their salurans before queuing again to vote. They were ordered to leave but they remained outside the school gate to continue assisting those coming to vote till the end of polling at 5pm.

• I know of a young man whose life was miraculously saved from the burning wreckage of his car seconds before it exploded on 8th April. He was hospitalised for more than 3 weeks and still suffered serious spinal injuries when polling day came. He insisted on casting his vote and was wheeled from the hospital to the polling station to cast his vote for change. A life spared, a vote counted.

Read more at: http://thomasfann.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/the-unsung-heroes-of-ge13/ 

Get your party to withdraw from BN coalition and stay independent if you are not comfortable to join Pakatan Rakyat. Or if withdrawing party is not possible, then go independent as an individual. 

Richard Loh 

Pre 505, umno bn leaders including the caretaker PM, Najib, have claimed that voters need not have to change the federal government cause umno bn can change themselves if voted in. Many have seen through this lie and the popular votes proved it. Umno bn did win the GE 13 but what are we seeing now post GE 13? They have indeed changed, not for the better but even worst.

Read more at: http://ousel.blogspot.com/2013/05/open-letter-to-those-bn-elected-members.html 

Kuala Lumpur police today warned that they will not hesitate to arrest those who take part in candlelight vigils for detainees. 

(New York Times) - The Malaysian government began a crackdown on political opponents on Thursday, arresting three government critics, including a prominent member of Parliament, and charging a student activist with sedition.

The arrests come two and a half weeks after elections that showed the governing party, which has been in power since independence from Britain in 1957, losing support from broad portions of the electorate.

The crackdown may be an attempt to pre-empt a demonstration planned for Saturday to protest accusations of fraud in the election, analysts said.

The opposition, which is led by a former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, won the popular vote in the May 5 election but failed to take control of Parliament because of a lopsided electoral system that gives a stronger voice to rural areas, where the governing party is strongest.

Mr. Anwar says the election victory was fraudulent and has been leading rallies across the country since the election results were announced; the demonstration on Saturday is being organized by a coalition of several dozen civic organizations.

The member of Parliament arrested on Thursday, Tian Chua, is Mr. Anwar’s deputy in a multicultural party that is challenging the dominance of the single-race United Malays National Organization.

Mr. Chua, who won re-election to Parliament May 5, posted on Twitter as he was being arrested Thursday, “No dictators could ever repress the rise of people’s power.” He said a police officer told him that he was being charged with sedition.

The two other people arrested are Haris Ibrahim, who leads an antigovernment group, and Tamrin Ghafar, the son of a former deputy prime minister who is a member of an Islamic party that is allied with Mr. Anwar. In addition, Adam Adli, the student activist, was charged with sedition on Thursday and released.

The Malaysian government, which has begun numerous crackdowns against dissidents during its decades in power, issued a statement late Thursday calling the arrests “a matter for the police.”

“The detentions came after the police received numerous reports against the defendants by members of the public,” the statement said. “In such circumstances the police are required to investigate and are following due and proper process.”

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/world/asia/malaysian-opposition-figures-are-detained.html?_r=3& 

They have used this archaic and draconian Sedition Act, even though the Prime Minister, the government has said before that they would repeal this act, because it's no longer relevant in the modern setting, but unfortunately, it's not repealed and they continue to use this draconian act to stifle dissent.

Sen Lam interviews Fadiah Nadwa at Radio Australia 

Listen at: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/malaysian-opposition-face-full-force-of-the-sedition-act/1135426 

Malaysian authorities have arrested a high-profile Opposition politician and three others under the country's controversial Sedition Act.

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak pledged last year to strengthen civil liberties, including possibly repealing the Sedition Act.

The law has been described as oppressive by critics, who say it's been invoked often in the past to silence dissent.

Human rights lawyer Fadiah Nadwa is representing one of the four men detained. She spoke to me from Kuala Lumpur.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Fadiah Nadwa, lawyer representing student activist Adam Adli, one of four Malaysians charged with sedition

FADIAH: The four people are Tian Chua, the vice president of (opposition) Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The second person is Thamrin Ghafar, he's a PAS member (Parti Islam SeMalaysia), the Islamic party, PAS, and the third person is Haris Ibrahim, he's the chief of this movement called 'Anything But UMNO'. And the fourth person is Adam Adli and Adam has been charged this morning, and he has been released on bail. These four people are now in the Jinjang remand centre.

LAM: You represent Adam Adli, who was detained five days ago, but he's out on bail, is that right?

FADIAH: Yes, correct. Basically, they're just punishing him for speaking his mind and they have used this archaic and draconian Sedition Act, even though the Prime Minister, the government has said before that they would repeal this act, because it's no longer relevant in the modern setting, but unfortunately, it's not repealed and they continue to use this draconian act to stifle dissent. So Adam Adli has been detained for five days, after being arrested last Saturday - they (police) applied for a remand order from the magistrate, and the magistrate granted five-day remand against Adam Adli, and he was subjected to continuous interrogation even though he kept telling the police that they could have just referred to the video that contains his speech. They (the police) are just trying to send a message to the Malaysian people, Do not say something that's not favourable to the government, or else you'll be arrested and detained under the Sedition Act.

LAM: And Fadiah, can you tell us what is it exactly that Adam Adli had allegedly said that was considered so seditious?

FADIAH: Adam Adli basically called for the Malaysian people to go to the streets to protest against the fraud committed during the (May 5th) elections.

LAM: Tian Chua is of course the high-profile spokesman and also VP of the opposition Parti Keadilan. The opposition of course has been holding meetings about alleged electoral fraud - do you think Tian Chua's arrest might fuel emotions that're already running in Opposition ranks?

FADIAH: Yes, I believe so, because I think right now, after the elections, the government is obviously very insecure with how the Malaysian public is reacting to the allegations of fraud in the elections and how the Malaysian people are assembling to protest against the recent arrest of Adam Adli. The government is using the power that they have to tell the Malaysian public that they will do anything they can to stop the Malaysian public from expressing themselves, from protesting, from participating in peaceful assemblies and so on.

LAM: Prime Minister Najib prior to this month's elections, had vowed to strengthen civil liberties, including the possibility of getting rid of the Sedition Act. Do you think he's having second thoughts now?

FADIAH: I believe so, I think for political survival, the government knows that by having this (Sedition) Act, they can try to instil fear, because it's been used for so long. The Sedition Act is the legacy of the British and it has been used to stifle dissent. It's very, very clear that people who get arrested under the Sedition Act are people who're very vocal and critical of the government. So, this is a very powerful tool that is being used by the government, to stifle dissent, because the Sedition Act is very broad and wide. It can cover everything, and that's why it's being abused by the government, to stop people from speaking out.

LAM: One of the reasons the government had given for the need for the Sedition Act, was that it was relevant to multi-racial Malaysia, and there is a great need to keep racial harmony. You don't think the Sedition Act has a role or a place in Malaysian society?

FADIAH: No, I don't think that the Sedition Act is relevant. We can clearly compare this to the seditious statements issued by some people who're calling for racial hatred, racial violence, for example, recently. But no one was subjected to this Act. But when it comes to the Opposition, when it comes to the activists, the authorities are very fast to take action under the Sedition Act. So you can selective prosecution, and also how the government is not really serious in trying to build harmony and trying to deter racial hatred and also racial violence. So if they're very, very serious, they should repeal this Act and they should come up with new legislation that can deal with hate speech, for example, that can deal with racial violence, racial discrimination, in line with the international standard, International Covenant on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in order to ensure that everyone has the civil and political rights. 

For all intents and purposes, this article is a purely academic exercise to discuss the issue of fair or fairness. I have attached the issue of election boundaries (in the addendum below) merely as the emphasis in discussing this issue. The point I wish to make, however, is that if you subscribe to the doctrine of relativity (a state of dependence in which the existence or significance of one entity is solely dependent on that of another), then everything is open to interpretation and subject to time and place plus dependent on whom you are.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Before I start let me warn you that this is going to be a cheong hei article so if you are one of those who are incapable of reading more than one page I would suggest you just skip this article and read something else.

First of all, before any of you jump up and down and scream that I am anti-reform, let me caution you that I am one of the early birds who was clamouring not only for electoral reforms but for political reforms as well -- under which would include electoral reforms.

And I have already openly declared that I joined the Liberal Democrat party because of this desire to see not just electoral reforms but political reforms here in the UK as well, a country that is now my home and where I will eventually be buried when I die in a few years time (hopefully more than 10 years more).

For all intents and purposes, this article is a purely academic exercise to discuss the issue of fair or fairness. I have attached the issue of election boundaries (in the addendum below) merely as the emphasis in discussing this issue. The point I wish to make, however, is that if you subscribe to the doctrine of relativity (a state of dependence in which the existence or significance of one entity is solely dependent on that of another), then everything is open to interpretation and subject to time and place plus dependent on whom you are.

When we look at something we always use the yardstick of where we stand and when that time may be to measure that thing we are looking at. What may be fair at one time and in another place may no longer be fair today in the place where we live. Hence nothing is constant and the only constant thing is change -- an oxymoron of sorts. (If it changes then it is not constant, is it not?)

Let us take voting as one example. In some countries in the past, only the landowners and the elite were allowed to vote (the serfs and landless could not vote). That meant roughly only 20% of the population could vote. In some countries only the whites and/or only the males could vote. ‘Blacks’ and women were not allowed to vote.

By today’s standards that would be most unfair. In those days, though, and in those countries concerned, there was nothing unfair about that. That was the law and the law must be obeyed. Whether this is ‘rule of law’ or ‘rule by law’ is another matter for another discussion (just like Malaysia’s Sedition Act issue).

Okay, that was in the past. Let us talk about today and let us talk about Malaysia.

In the UK, anyone who resides in the country can vote (as long as you have a UK address). Since you reside in the country, whatever happens in the UK affects you -- so you can vote. Hence even Malaysian students who hold Malaysian passports and are Malaysian citizens can vote in the British elections -- as long as you are old enough.

Malaysia, however, does not allow this. And if you are not a Malaysian citizen and you vote then you would be regarded as a ‘phantom voter’. Is this fair (to regard non-citizens as phantom voters)? In the UK it is not fair. But in Malaysia this is fair.

Now, if British citizens can go to Malaysia and are allowed entry into the country without the need of a visa then, to reciprocate, Malaysian citizens can also enter the UK without the need of a visa. However, while Malaysian citizens can vote in the UK, British citizens cannot vote in Malaysia. Is this reciprocating and hence is this fair?

Let’s, say, a British citizen votes in Malaysia. What will happen to him or her? Absolutely nothing -- other than getting beaten up by the Pakatan Rakyat supporters, of course. But what will happen if a Malaysian citizen votes in the UK? Well, he or she can lose his/her Malaysian citizenship. Is this fair? It is fair in Malaysia but not in the UK.

In 1969, the voting age in the UK was reduced from 21 to 18. And that is why foreign students can vote since most are above 18 anyway. In Malaysia, the voting age is still 21. But you can drive a car at 18 plus you can also get married at that age. So, we trust 18-year-olds to drive a car and get married but we do not trust them to vote? Is this fair?

Up to 1969 it was fair in the UK. Today, however, it is no longer fair. In Malaysia, though, it is still fair. Hence the interpretation of ‘fair’ changes over time and over place. In 1969, I was only 18 and could not vote in the 10th May 1969 ‘historic’ general election in Malaysia. But I would have been able to vote in the UK had I gone there to study instead of choosing the life of a hippie in Malaysia. 

So, in reviewing our electoral system, we need to redefine what is fair and hence we need to consider a total overhaul of the system to keep up with the changes in the world. Children of 13 were still considered children back in the time of Merdeka. Children of 13, today, are more exposed to the world and have become more mature partly due to cable TV and the Internet. Children of 13, say, 500 years ago, already went to war and got married and by 30 were considered too old (not many lived beyond 50 anyway in those days).

Hence, the issue of the age of maturity plus the voting age itself needs to be reconsidered and probably changed to keep up with ‘world norms’. Even how we look at 16-year-olds changed from 1813 to 1913 to 2013.

Are 18-year-olds old enough and mature enough to be entrusted with the ballot paper? If they are old enough to be sent to jail or to be sent to the gallows then they should be old enough to be allowed to vote.

But what will happen if 18-year old Malaysians are allowed to vote? Well, that would mean Barisan Nasional is finished because then most likely the opposition would garner 60% of the popular vote and if this happens then no amount of fraud or gerrymandering can make any difference. You can only cheat up to a certain extent, mainly in borderline cases. If the swing is too massive, to the level of a Tsunami, then even cheating cannot help any longer.

So the government has to very carefully look into all these issues in the expected re-delineation exercise, which may be conducted soon. However, what is the priority of the Election Commission (SPR)? Malaysia practices the first-past-the-post system. How do we incorporate the one-man-one-vote system into that system? That is the billion-dollar question. And, again, the issue of ‘fair’ needs to be carefully considered.

But then I have just explained that fair or fairness is relative. It all depends on who you are and what era you live in and in which region you are living. The interpretation of fair changes from time-to-time and from place-to-place and from person-to-person as well. So how do we establish ‘fair’? And who will be the one establishing what is fair?

Okay, you may argue that the ones establishing this yardstick of ‘fair’ must be the majority. But what if what the majority wants is not fair to the minority? Do we then ignore the rights of the minority because we must comply to majority-rule? What if in that particular society the majority happens to be Shia Muslims and the minority are Sunni Muslims? Can the majority Shias pass a law that persecutes the minority Sunnis? Do the minority Sunnis not also have rights?

Say, the majority Shias decide that Sunni Islam is not Islam and Sunnis are heretics who should be put to death. The Sunni Books of Hadith are banned and anyone found in possession of the Sunni Books of Hadith will be arrested and sent to jail.

But Sunni Islam is far larger than Shia Islam. There are an estimated 80-90% Sunnis compared to only 10-20% Shias in the world. In Malaysia, Malaysians who follow Shia Islam are arrested and jailed (unless you are a foreigner). So is it fair that the ‘majority’ Shias who are actually the minority worldwide pass such laws even though in that particular country they may be the majority?

So, can you see that the issue of majority-rule itself can be disputed because, yet again, it is subject to who you are and where you happen to live at that time and what era you happen to be living in?

Okay, back to Malaysia’s election system, what would Barisan Nasional consider fair? Fair to Barisan Nasional is whatever it is that can keep them in power. What about Pakatan Rakyat? To Pakatan Rakyat, fair is whatever it is that can kick out Barisan Nasional.

Hence, to start off, both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat have different interpretations of fair. So how do we come to a consensus on what is fair? If we go by the majority in Parliament then Barisan Nasional has 133 votes compared to Pakatan Rakyat’s 89. So, if majority rules, then Barisan Nasional wins.

You may argue that Barisan Nasional may have 133 seats in Parliament but then they won these 133 seats with less than 50% of the votes. Okay, but is Malaysia’s election based on votes or based on seats? Undoubtedly it is based on seats and not votes. And if on seats then Barisan Nasional will win the shouting match.

The bottom line is: both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat have two different interpretations of fair and have different priorities in the re-delineation exercise. So there is no way they can meet in the middle. One has to lose while the other will win. The question is: which one will lose and which one will win?

In the meantime, be prepared for a long-drawn shouting match and probably even more street demonstrations before this issue is going to be resolved. And at the end of it all, one party is going to benefit and another is going to be frustrated. And the whole reason for this is because the present system is not perfect. Any system that can be manipulated and exploited cannot be perfect.

Is the solution, therefore, to look for another system?

Yes, something to mull over and sleep on, don’t you think so?

Nevertheless, treat this piece of mine as merely an academic exercise to discuss the issue of what is fair. 

*************************************

PSC recommended fairer election system, DAP rep reminds BN, EC

Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider

Barisan Nasional (BN) was reminded today of recommendations approved last year by Parliament to improve the country’s current electoral system and for the coming redrawing of boundaries to ensure fair weightage is given to every vote. 

DAP election strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming mocked BN leaders Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Noh Omar for criticising those who dared to challenge the alleged unfairness of the current system, pointing out that their own colleagues had made the recommendations as members of the Parliamentary Select Committee for electoral reform.

The recommendations, tabled in the Lower House on April 2 last year, included a call on the Election Commission (EC) to use a “fair and equitable” formula when determining the number of voters in one constituency, after taking note of the proposal to follow the “one-man, one-vote, one-value” principle.

The bipartisan PSC also took note of the proposal to improve the country’s current use of the simple majority or first-past-the-post system by considering a more proportionate system of representation for elections.

Ong (picture), the newly-elected MP for Serdang, told both Ahmad Zahid and Noh to take a week-long study leave abroad to better understand how other countries practising the same simple majority “first-past-the-post” system adhere to the “one-man, one-vote, one-value” principle in the drawing of their electoral boundaries.

“If the home minister (Ahmad Zahid) and the MP for Tanjong Karang (Noh) are too busy... I would be more than happy to sit down with them for a one-hour briefing to show them how other democratic countries using the first-past-the-post system redraw their boundary lines in order to reduce the disparity in the number of voters per seat,” Ong said.

He explained that if constituencies are fairly delineated, any party or coalition that wins the vote majority in any first-past-the-post system should win the majority of seats contested.

But in the just-concluded Election 2013, the ruling BN government emerged victors again by snapping up 133 seats or 60 per cent of the 222 federal seats to Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) 89 seats, despite losing the popular vote when it garnered only 48 per cent of votes cast to PR’s 51 per cent.

The outcome triggered the string of “Black 505” protests nationwide as indignant opposition leaders and voters rallied against BN’s return to power despite failing to win the majority number of votes cast.

Responding to the protests, Ahmad Zahid sparked an uproar when he wrote in Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia that Malaysians should accept PR’s failure to win federal power in Malaysia’s first-past-the-post system, saying those unwilling to accept the system could live elsewhere.

In a separate remark, Noh had said that those who do not like Malaysia’s electoral system to go “live in the jungle”.

Ong accused the home minister of failing to remember that prior to Malaysia’s independence, the maximum rural weightage given to votes had been two to one which, he said, effectively means that the largest constituency can only have twice as many voters as the smallest constituency.

“Instead, what we have now in Malaysia is a ‘bastardized’ form of the first-past-the-post electoral system where the largest constituency — P109 Kapar (144,369 voters in GE13) — has nine times the number of voters of the smallest constituency — P126 Putrajaya (15,798 voters in GE13),” he said.

“Indeed, if the home minister had done his research, he would have realised that the United Kingdom passed a Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act in 2011 which specified that the maximum deviation in the number of voters per constituency can only be 5 per cent,” he added.

In Australia, which uses the Alternative Vote (AV) in Single Member Constituencies, Ong said the maximum deviation in the number of voters per constituency is 10 per cent.

“However, there is an additional, stricter rule which requires the Australian Election Commission to project the number of voters per constituency 3½ years after a re-delineation exercise.

“This rule allows for a maximum of a 3.5 per cent deviation. The strict rules observed in Australia results in the one-man-one-vote principle being observed,” he said.

For example, Ong said the largest constituency in Australia in terms of geographical area is Durack in Western Australia with 88,177 voters when the last redelineation exercise was conducted in 2008.

Durack’s land size, he said, is 1,587,758 square kilometres, which is almost five times the size of Malaysia.

The smallest constituency, he said, is the constituency of Wentworth in New South Wales, Sydney, with 98,979 in 2009 when the last redelineation exercise was conducted.

Wentworth covers approximately 30 square kilometres which is about the size of Ipoh Barat, Ong added.

“The rural-urban weightage in Australia is 1.12. In other words, the number of voters in the smallest urban constituency is only 112 per cent the number of voters in the largest rural constituency.

“If Australia, given its large geographic area, can follow the one-man-one-vote principle, there is no reason why Malaysia cannot follow suit,” he said.

The EC is expected to kick off the re-delineation exercise at the end of this year, shortly after all election petitions for the May 5 polls are heard.

(Harakah Daily) - Selepas Harakah, kini akhbar lidah rasmi parti Keadilan Rakyat Suara Keadilan juga dilaporkan dirampas oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) di beberapa buah negeri sejak semalam.

Menurut Setiausaha Agung Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Saifuddin Nasution Ismail ribuan naskah akhbar Suara Keadilan telah dirampas dari kedai-kedai pembekal dan pengedar di seluruh negara.

Dalam tempoh 24 jam mulai semalam, katanya pegawai-pegawai KDN,  telah bertindak merampas dan mengancam untuk menangkap pembekal dan pengedar akhbar Suara Keadilan di beberapa tempat.

Katanya, di Ipoh Perak malam tadi, tujuh orang pegawai KDN telah menyerbu premis salah seorang pembekal Suara Keadilan dan merampas 214 naskah akhbar tersebut.

Jelasnya, pegawai-pegawai tersebut bagaimanapun enggan memberi sebarang bukti surat kuasa rampasan.

"Di Melaka pula, pada jam 10 pagi hari ini 70 naskah Suara KEADILAN telah dirampas dari seorang pengedar yang menurut beliau, pegawai-pegawai KDN hanya memberi alasan bahawa ia telah menyalahi Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan 1984," katanya.

Tambahnya, kejadian yang sama juga telah berlaku hari ini di Johor Bahru, Johor, Seremban, Bangi dan juga di Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

"Kita menjangkakan bahawa tindakan kasar, zalim dan sangat tidak demokratik ini akan berterusan, seperti yang dilihat dalam penangkapan beberapa tokoh dan aktivis pembangkang seperti  Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Adam Adli, Tian Chua, Haris Ibrahim dan  Tamrin Ghafar dan 18 orang aktivis lain yang menunjukkan sokongan kepada  Adam Adli," katanya.

PKR mengecam tindakan rampasan akhbar Suara Keadilan yang jelas melihat ia sebagai satu lagi pembuktian bahawa kerajaan Umno BN terus-terusan mahu memperbodoh rakyat Malaysia dengan cubaan menyorokkan berita dan laporan alternatif dari rakyat yang sebenarnya mampu menilai dengan bebas tentang perkembangan politik negara.

Malah, tegas Saifuddin rampasan akhbar Suara Keadilan ini bermotifkan politik dendam serta cubaan menyekat penyebaran maklumat terutama mengenai penipuan pilihanraya.

"Tindakan ini juga jelas membayangkan ketakutan kerajaan Umno BN sendiri kerana mereka memperolehi kuasa hanya berdasarkan mandat minoriti dan kerana itu terpaksa mengunakan kaedah tidak demokratik untuk mengekalkan kekuasaan," katanya.

(Bernama) - A study on the re-delineation of electoral constituencies, which was postponed two years ago, will begin soon, said Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

Azril Annuar, fz.com

The RM145 million price tag for the merger of Matang Holdings Berhad into ACE market-listed Scope Industries Bhd should be reviewed by the Valuation and Property Services Department (VPSD), MCA vice president Datuk Donald Lim said.

This is necessary as there are two different valuations for the deal with the RM145 million valuation being the lower one, Lim told a press conference here today.

“There were two valuations and one was lower by around RM20 to RM30 million. So I think it’s best that the VPSD conduct a third valuation on how much it really costs,” said Lim.

He also pointed out that the current Matang shareholders should have the option to sell out their shares instead of just being granted shares by Scope Industries.

“By giving shares there will be a four-year moratorium and the shareholders cannot sell it. We won’t know what will happen in four years. What happens if the share prices go down? Maybe from RM1 to RM0.30 in four years.

“Matang has nearly 20,000 shareholders controlling 90 per cent of the shares. The other 10 per cent is held by the MCA-owned Huaren Foundation. So for the sake of the other shareholders they should allow them to cash out if they want to.

“And for the upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 31, Huaren should not vote. Since it is owned by MCA and there is no mandate from MCA’s Central Working Committee, Huaren should abstain from voting,” said Lim who also owns 3,000 units of Matang’s shares.

Matang Holdings entered into a business merger agreement with electrical and electronics manufacturer Scope Industries sometime in November last year and transferred its entire business and undertakings including assets and liabilities to the latter.

In Malaysia’s case however, GST will be replacing a pre-existing tax and at a rate that is lower than the prevailing rate. Under those circumstances, the impact should be a one-time decrease in the price level, not an increase.

Hisham H.

Here are the facts:

1. Malaysia is one of the last countries in the world to implement a full fledged value-added tax. The only countries of note that have yet to implement a VAT are the United States, Hong Kong, Brunei, and the countries under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Everybody else either has it, or are implementing it.
2. Malaysia currently levies two forms of consumption tax – sales tax and service tax (henceforth SST).
3. Sales tax is levied on all goods sold or produced in Malaysia, with the exception of petroleum and exports. The current standard rate is 10%, but a lower rate of 5% is applicable to fruits, certain foodstuffs, timber, building materials, cigarettes and tobacco, and liquor and alcohol.
4. Service tax is applicable to restaurants, hotels, parking lots, golf courses, clubs, discoes, insurance agents, phone companies, professional services like accountants, lawyers and consultants, and many more at a rate of 6%. Some of these services require a minimum corporate income threshold before the tax is levied. Credit cards are also subject to a service tax, but in this case it’s a flat fee levied on principal and supplementary cards.
5. GST is going to replace both these two taxes (with the possible exception of credit cards), and from which certain essential goods will continue to be excluded i.e. zero-rated (exports, petrol and basic foods for instance).

So, let’s assume that a 7% rate will be implemented:

1. For food, the tax on basic staples will go from 5% to 0%.
2. For other foods, the tax rate will go from 10% to 7%.
3. For the “sin” goods, the tax rate will increase marginally from 5% to 7%.
4. For everything else, the tax rate falls from 10% to 7%.
5. Certain other goods, like books and petrol, will continue to attract no tax.
6. For services, the rate will increase from 6% to 7%.

When the basic tax rates on most goods at point of sale are set to fall, how on earth can this be inflationary?

Both in theory and in practice, the implementation of a VAT or an increase in the VAT rate is almost always accompanied by a one time increase in the price level (cost of living), but not the rate of price increases (inflation). There are umpteenth examples of this over the last couple of decades.

In Malaysia’s case however, GST will be replacing a pre-existing tax and at a rate that is lower than the prevailing rate. Under those circumstances, the impact should be a one-time decrease in the price level, not an increase.

The regressive nature of GST is completely irrelevant in this discussion, because we’re replacing one regressive tax with another, and moreover one that is proven to be more efficient in raising tax revenues.

Almost all the gains in revenue collection from the switch to GST from SST will come from enforcing tax collection across the chain of production and distribution of goods and services, and not an increase in the overall tax burden to consumers.

Again, how can replacing SST with GST be inflationary?

Read more at: http://econsmalaysia.blogspot.ae/2013/05/gst-and-inflation.html?spref=fb

A political analyst disclosed that despite BN's overall win in Sabah, statistics showed the ruling coalition had lost to Pakatan on popular votes "even among the Malays".

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political science lecturer Arnold Puyok said there was a “political tsunami in Sabah”, but it “wasn’t strong enough to cause significant change”.

Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT

In the run up to the 13th general election, several parliamentary seats in Sabah were reportedly under severe threat from opposition Pakatan Rakyat.

In fact it was widely speculated that the outcome of these seats would be the “clincher” for Pakatan’s Putrajaya aspirations.

But eventually that did not happen, noted political analysts who spoke at a forum here last night.

Despite the opposition’s “Ini Kali Lah” wave which was widely spported by the Kadazandusun Murut and Chinese areas, they failed to loosen Barisan Nasional’s grip on Sabah.

BN had secured 48 of the 60 state and 22 of 25 parliamentary seats as opposed to Pakatan’s three parliamentary and 10 state seats.

Pakatan’s failure to threaten BN’s hold on Sabah came as a surprise to two political analysts, who had expected the opposition to capture “at least 15″ parliamentary seats in East Malaysia.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political science lecturer Arnold Puyok said there was a “political tsunami in Sabah”, but it “wasn’t strong enough to cause significant change”.

“The opposition was making inroads. There were a lot of unhappiness in the Kadazandusun and Chinese areas,” he said during a forum organised by Merdeka Centre here.

“With the rise of STAR (Sabah State Reform Party) and “Ini Kali Lah”, a lot of Sabahans thought it was time for change,” he added.

Swing in Malay popular votes

Arnold also noted that in Malay-Muslim majority areas in the state, support for Umno-BN had increased significantly in GE13.

“The BN-Umno vote bank remains strong in rural Muslim-Bumiputera areas. There is strong dominance by Umno,” he said.

He then pointed out that BN was instead losing support in Kadazandusun and Chinese areas.

READ MORE HERE

The Sedition Act started life as the 1351 English Statute of Treasons. Hence sedition is closely associated with treason. In the 1500s, King Henry VIII broke away from Rome and established the Church of England with him and not the Pope in Rome as the head of the church and God’s representative on earth. This was, of course, heavily opposed and criticised by the Catholics and this was when the sedition law was heavily used. Those found guilty of sedition were put to death or at the very least imprisoned with their ears cut off.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

As I write this, thus far student activist Adam Adli has been arrested (and charged plus is now out on bail) for sedition and, today, Haris Ibrahim, Tian Chua and Tamrin Tun Ghafar (ex-Umno MP and ex-MARA Chairman) have also been picked up. I expect Hishamuddin Rais (who spent 20 years in political exile in Manchester) and Cikgu Bard (Badrul Hisham Shahrin) to be added to that list very soon plus probably a few more, Anwar Ibrahim included.

Maybe we shall be seeing a repeat of the ‘Reformasi 10’ roundup that we saw in April 2001. In April 2001 the arrests were under the detention without trial Internal Security Act. This time it is under the Sedition Act, which means they will be given a trial.

But why the Sedition Act and what is so ‘special’ about this law? 

The Sedition Act started life as the 1351 English Statute of Treasons. Hence sedition is closely associated with treason. In the 1500s, King Henry VIII broke away from Rome and established the Church of England with him and not the Pope in Rome as the head of the church and God’s representative on earth. This was, of course, heavily opposed and criticised by the Catholics and this was when the sedition law was heavily used. Those found guilty of sedition were put to death or at the very least imprisoned with their ears cut off.

When Queen Mary I took over in July 1553, she restored Roman Catholicism and had over 300 Protestant religious dissenters burned at the stake over five years in the Marian persecutions. In November 1558, Mary’s younger sister, Elizabeth took over as Queen Elizabeth I and she restored Protestantism and did to the Catholics what Mary did to the Protestants.

Then England saw its first Civil War in 1640, a power struggle between King Charles I and Parliament. There were many reasons for this conflict but amongst the key factors was religion. Charles was viewed as ‘Catholic-friendly’ (his wife and mother were both Catholics) while the majority of the Parliamentarians were Puritans who viewed Catholics as heretics and deviants.

Charles I was toppled and executed in 1649 and for 11 years England was ruled as a Republic until Charles II, his son, took the throne in 1660. And that’s when the sedition law was formalised as the Sedition Act (1661) -- to put down any further ideas of turning England into a Republic or of restoring Roman Catholicism. In fact, 100 years earlier, Elizabeth I had already got Parliament to pass a law that forbids a Catholic from sitting on the throne of England. Hence to even talk about it is a crime and punishable by death.

And then the British came to the Malay states. In 1824, the British and Dutch exchanged Bencoolen in Sumatra with Melaka. Earlier, in 1786, the British took Penang and then Singapore in 1819. In 1941, the British lost Malaya to the Japanese, and when the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, the British returned to Malaya and created the Malayan Union, which was opposed by the Malays and triggered the formation of Umno. Due to this strong opposition, in 1948, the British abandoned the Malayan Union and created the Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.

Nevertheless, while the nationalist Malays (in particular those in Umno) accepted this, the more radical Malays plus the Socialists and Communists opposed it. To stifle this dissent, the British introduced the Sedition Act (1948) and those opposed to the British and to the formation of the Federation of Malaya took to the jungles to continue their opposition as an armed struggle.

And that is the history of the Sedition Act. It started life as a weapon to clamp down on and punish those aligned to Rome and those who criticised the English Monarch. It was then ‘exported’ to Malaya as a weapon to clamp down on and punish those who opposed the British and the Federation of Malaya.

Now it is a weapon used to stifle dissent or act against those who ‘violently’ oppose the results of the general election or, like in my case, those who criticise and ‘bring hatred’ to the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (now wife of the Prime Minister, of course).

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The Sedition Act (1661)

The Sedition Act 1661 was an Act of the Parliament of England, although it was extended to Scotland only in 1708. Passed shortly after the Restoration of Charles II to the throne of England (after 11 years as a Republic), it is no longer in force (abolished on 1st January 2010), but some of its provisions continue to survive today in the Treason Act 1695 and the Treason Felony Act 1848. One clause which was included in the Treason Act 1695 was later adapted for the United States Constitution (US Sedition Act 1798 and repealed in 1920).

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The Sedition Act (1948)

In 1948, the British colonial government of Malaya enacted the Sedition Act to combat the Communist insurgency. Amendments were made through an Emergency Ordinance 1971, not long after the May 13 riots of 1969, to criminalise any questioning on Part III (on citizenship), Article 152 (on national language), Article 153 (on the special positions of the Malays and the rights of other races) and Article 181 (the Rulers’ sovereignty) of the Federal Constitution.

The Act has a very wide definition of ‘sedition’ and places many limitations on freedom of expression, particularly regarding supposedly sensitive political issues -- and this legal uncertainty very much favours the prosecutor. It also means that what is seditious is not just a legal but also a political issue.

A ‘seditious tendency’ is defined in section 3 as follows:

1. To bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or government.

2. To seek alteration other than by lawful means of any matter by law established.

3. To bring hatred or contempt to the administration of justice in the country.

4. To raise discontent or disaffection amongst the subjects.

5. To promote ill will and hostility between races or classes.

6. To question the provisions of the Constitution dealing with language, citizenship, the special privileges of the Malays and of the natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the sovereignty of the Rulers.

http://cijmalaysia.org/miniportal/2010/09/the-sedition-act-1948/

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Sedition Act (1948) cannot be challenged

(NST, 25 June 2012) - The Sedition Act 1948 is constitutional and its validity cannot be challenged.

The Federal Court today ruled that the act is a good Act in dismissing an appeal by lawyer P. Uthayakumar (HINDRAF) against the decision of the Court of Appeal on Feb this year, which had rejected Uthayakumar's application to declare the Sedition Act unconstitutional.

Uthayakumar, 49, a former Internal Security Act detainee, was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Dec 11, 2007, with publishing a seditious letter on the "Police Watch Malaysia" website, dated Nov 15, 2007, addressed to then prime minister of Britain Gordon Brown.

He made the declaratory application (to declare the Sedition Act unconstitutional), in a bid to have the charge against him under the act to be revoked.

In Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s view, Malaysians ‘must’ remain silent about the unfairness of the electoral system.

Luke Rintod, FMT

Public outrage over Umno vice-president and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s childish tantrum telling Malaysians to shove off if they don’t like the electoral system is far from over.

The ‘wet behind the ear’ Home Minister was quoted in the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia last week telling off those unhappy with the first-past-the post electoral system to migrate to countries that practice Single Transferable Vote (republics).

His retort set off an avalanche of criticism from the general public and political writers, including Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), and DAP leader Tony Pua.

Raja Petra dared Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to sack Zahid should he refuse to publicly apologise and resign.

Pua said that Zahid was being arrogant by denying Malaysians the right to a better voting system by telling them to migrate if they were unhappy with a flawed system.

Two days later, newly-minted Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaludin said that Zahid “was merely expressing his own opinion” and that “it did not reflect Najib administration’s official position”.

While most reasonable Malaysians are still furious with a curlish Home Minister, many, including Zahid, may not be aware that thousands of Malaysians have already left the country.

More than one million Malaysians decided to migrate but perhaps not for the reasons Zahid wished for.

People migrated mainly for jobs, opined a well known economist Dr James Alin in Kota Kinabalu.

In his paper “Should I Stay or Should I Go” (published in June last year), the academic wrote that Malaysia was experiencing a serious brain-drain problem.

Malaysia losing ‘skilled talents’

The country, he noted, was losing highly skilled individuals aged 25 years and above with academic and professional degrees.

In 2010, there were 121,662 highly skilled Malaysians working in Singapore as compared to 66,452 in year 2000.

According to Alin, Malaysian emigrants to Australia in year 2000 was 38,620. But this increased to 51,556 in 2010.

Smilar trends were noted by the United States of America. The numbers had spiked from 24,085 to 34,045 in 2010.

In the UK it moved from 12,898 to 16,609 while in Canada it increased from 12,170 to 12,809. Other countries also saw similar shifts.

Emigrants to Brunei shot up from 6,438 to 10,208; India 1,509 to 4,503; China 2,655 to 3,496 and Taiwan 2,916 to 3,235..

“Malaysia needs talent, but talent seems to be leaving. With more Malaysians migrating, the skills and talents base will be shrinking,“ warned Alin.

He further said that in addition to higher earning potential and better career prospects abroad, Malaysians migrated to seek a better quality of life that includes superior education standards for their children, good governance and more political freedom.

Alin told FMT that the Chinese Malaysians who made up majority of the brain-drain feel that the Bumiputera policy has caused social injustice.

“They voiced dissatisfaction; they are fed up at being constantly reminded that Chinese have fewer rights than the Malay. Brain-drain is not a new phenomenon,” said the economist.

READ MORE HERE

A Rolls Royce and flashy jet cover his transportation, while a vast war chest has kept his political authority unrivalled in 32 years in charge of the resource-rich Borneo island state, which remains one of Malaysia's poorest.

(AFP) - Despite earning a civil servant's salary for three decades, Taib Mahmud, the powerful chief minister of Malaysia's Sarawak state, is reputed by critics to be one of Asia's richest men.

(Bernama) - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is to file 27 petitions in court soon over the results of the 13th General Election, its vice-president Tian Chua said today.

(The Star) - PKR vice-president Tian Chua says he has been detained by police under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act.

He said in a tweet message that he was detained at the LCCT before going through the security check as he was to board a flight Thursday.

He believed he is being taken to the Jinjang police station.

Meanwhile, activist Haris Ibrahim was also picked up by police in connection with the May 13 forum which saw student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim being charged with uttering seditious words.

It is learnt that Haris was picked up while having lunch in Segambut and was being taken to the Jinjang police station.

(The Star) - Gerakan, which has decided not to hold any Federal Government position after its dismal showing in the general election, will look into the matter again following objections from within the party.

The party's acting president Datuk Chang Ko Youn said the matter would be discussed at their next central committee (CC) meeting set for next month.

“We will relook the issue. In our last CC meeting, we decided not to take up federal posts but some have disagreed with us,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.

He admitted that some issues were not adequately addressed during the May 11 CC meeting as emotions were high following the party's shock defeat in the May 5 polls.

Chang said it was his personal opinion that the party should hold federal positions, adding that both MCA and Gerakan should take up federal positions as they were part of Barisan Nasional and agreed with the coalition's policies.

Chang, who was speaking at his first press conference as acting president following Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon's resignation, said Barisan should merge into a single multi-racial party and change its approach, given the advent of more young voters in urbanised areas over the next five years.

“In the elections, we saw that the trend of urban voters went across racial lines, such as Chinese voters who voted for PAS candidates and vice versa.

“We can no longer rely on race-based parties. It is getting out of fashion. We must seriously look at the issue of young voters across racial lines. They are looking at transparency, governance, human rights and other issues,” he added.

Barisan, Chang added, must adapt as old methods could not be used any more.

“If we use the same methods, I am afraid that we will have worse results in the next elections, which will see an additional two million new voters,” he said, adding that Gerakan had always advocated non-racial politics.

Chang also hit out at Pakatan Rakyat and said it should admit defeat and use the parliamentary process to advocate change instead of having rallies that could provoke people.

(The Star) - PKR may postpone its elections due to be held this November to reconsolidate its support base.

Party secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (picture) said the political bureau had discussed the suggestion to put off party polls.

“We just went through a big battle in the general election, and having the elections in November may be too soon as they take up a lot of time and energy.

“There are views within the leadership to reconsolidate our support base and to close ranks first ... maybe that could be reason enough to postpone our elections,” he told a press conference at the party headquarters here yesterday.

“We are currently considering both options to have our elections in November as planned or to postpone the polls,” he said.

He added that the supreme council will be discussing the matter further after the party's annual congress, postponed from last year, ends this weekend.

Saifuddin said that if the leadership wanted to postpone the party elections, it would have to convene a special congress to amend the constitution, which now only provides for triennial elections. The last party elections were in 2010.

Saifuddin, who coordinated the previous party elections, said that he was getting feedback to improve the polling process.

Previously, he said, the members had to meet twice to elect their leaders first to elect their division leaders and then to elect the supreme council members.

“The grassroots members say that this is double mobilisation and it takes up too much time, and they are asking if we could vote for both at once,” he said. “But a change in procedure would require a constitutional amendment.”

He also said the ninth annual congress to be held here this Saturday would see 2,500 delegates from 221 divisions nationwide attending the one-day event.

The Youth and Wanita wings will meet on Friday.

Saifuddin said the theme of the congress was Suara Rakyat, Suara Keramat (The Voice of the People, The Supreme Voice).

(The Star) - Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) is set to review its ties with Pakatan Rakyat after its losses in GE13 due to the alleged underhand tactics against their candidates.

“The issue will be brought up for discussion at our annual congress on June 28.

“We are leaving it to our members to decide if we should continue ties with Pakatan,” PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan (picture) said, adding that the decision to work with the Opposition pact was made at the party's 14th Congress in June last year.

He added that PSM was also demanding a meeting with PKR and PAS leaders over the Kota Damansara and Semenyih state seats in Selangor.

“We want an explanation from PAS over the loss of the Kota Damansara seat, and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang referring to us as communists,” he said.

Arutchelvan added that PKR should also explain its role in PSM's loss in Semenyih.

On May 6, PSM president Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim said his loss in Kota Damansara was due to votes being split and “stolen” by the PAS candidate.

Barisan's Halimaton Saadiah Bohan polled 16,387 votes against Dr Nasir's 14,860 and PAS' Ridzuan Ismail's 7,312.

Arutchelvan was said to be the victim of Pakatan's internal politicking in Semenyih which saw Barisan's Datuk Johan Abdul Aziz getting 17,616 votes compared to PKR's Hamidi Hasan (13,471) while he only polled 5,568 votes.

PSM also contested the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in Perak with incumbent Dr Michael Jeyakumar successfully defending it while M. Sarasvathy lost the Jelapang state seat.

His lawyers are planning to file an application at the High Court to declare the case against him is frivolous.

K Pragalath, FMT

Student activist Adam Adli was this morning charged under the Sedition Act at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for allegedly making a seditious statement. He claimed trial.

Sessions Court judge Norsharidah Awang fixed the bail at RM5,000 with one bailor, and fixed July 2 for mentioning.

Adam, 24, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on May 18 for remarks he allegedly made during a post-GE13 forum on May 13. He was held in remand for five days.

This morning, deputy public prosecutor, Mohd Abazafri Mohd Abbas, sought to set bail at RM5,000 “to ensure his (Adam’s) attendance in court”. Abazafri was assisted by deputy public prosecutors Azrina Ali and Nadia Tahyuddin.

Adam was represented by lawyers N Surendran, S Ambiga, Afiq M Noor and Michelle Yesudass.

Both Surendran and Ambiga argued that the bail amount was high, and said the case was frivolous without prima facie.

“The Sedition Act is also going to be repealed. We will file an application to strike out the case at the High Court as soon as possible,” said Surendran.

Upon his release on bail, Adam addressed his supporters at the court lobby.

“It is an experience in defending democracy. Thank you all. This is why I love this country,” he said. Funds collected during his remand period was used to bail him out.

Adam was arrested under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and Section 124(B) of the Penal Code on May 18 in Bangsar for making statements during a May 13 forum held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act provides that it is a criminal offence to make any oral, printed and published statements or acts with “seditious tendency”.

Section 124(B) of the Penal Code states that “whoever, by any means, directly or indirectly, commits an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years.”

If Adam is found guilty of sedition, he could be imprisoned for up to three years, fined up to RM5,000, or both.

In the forum, Adam, along with other activists, had called for a street demonstration to protest alleged electoral fraud during the general election.

READ MORE HERE

IN DECEMBER 1997, an unusual outcry arose from the normally placid Senate or Dewan Negara when its members reacted to a dismissive label given to the Upper House by the then parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang – he had called it a "rubber-stamp to a rubber-stamp."

N Dharmendran’s body was covered with bruises and both his ears were stapled. A pathologist confirms he died from multiple blunt force trauma. The police have now reclassified the case as murder although they initially said Dharmendran died from breathing difficulties.

Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament, Klang 

It has always been one death too many. According to official statistics, there were 147 deaths in police custody last year. This shook the conscience of the country and deeply angered Malaysians. But nothing changed.
 
The recent death does not just add to the escalating number. The lurid details of the victim’s body is shocking as it points to a rising level of physical abuse and torture by police officers.
 
N Dharmendran’s body was covered with bruises and both his ears were stapled. A pathologist confirms he died from multiple blunt force trauma. The police have now reclassified the case as murder although they initially said Dharmendran died from breathing difficulties.
 
His lawyers have described it as the worst case of police brutality, since the death of Kugan Ananthan in 2009.
 
The deep wounds on Dharmendran’s body plus the staples with dried blood indicate he died from physical torture. The pathologist also found staples on both his legs on the ankle area.
 
Dharmendran’s death and the shocking wounds on his body clearly signal that the police have no qualms abusing their powers or indulging in torture despite the nationwide uproar. And this is more so as they are not accountable to anyone.
 
This has to stop.
 
The government must immediately set-up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission or IPCMC instead of shuffling it along.
 
The police continue to act with impunity as they enjoy absolute power. The inertia demonstrated by the government in implementing the Independent Commission has contributed to the rising number of deaths in the hands of the police.
 
As the year began, three people died under police custody. And aside from deaths in police custody, police also shoot dead several people, each month, on average. Police say they were either returning fire or the people were suspected criminals. But many are shot dead just for failing to stop at police roadblocks.
 
Peoples’ confidence in the police has been taking a steady dip over the past few years, largely triggered by a deep-seated suspicion of the force. Their concern holds water.
 
We have read about newly minted Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, thumping his chest and vowing to act on anyone who dares to hold peaceful rallies or question the country’s electoral system.
 
I now ask that he bucks up and does the right thing as the minister in charge of Home Affairs by ordering and open inquiry into Dharmendran’s death and instructing the police chief to suspend all officers who were involved in interrogating the deceased until the investigation is completed.
 
Reclassifying the case as murder is not enough.
 
We have been disappointed many times with the outcome of the police investigating themselves. But as the new government has promised transparency and accountability, I urge the police not to play Houdini by trying to make crucial evidence disappear or attempt to cover up for their fellow colleagues.
 
BN’s shortcomings have become a huge liability to the country and its people for decades. Let’s hope that, for once, fairness and justice will prevail.
 
Or Dharmendran will become just another number, adding to the rising statistics.
 

At 1% Silver Nitrate concentration, the silver nitrate in the indelible ink is only good enough for use in an eyewash.

PY Wong 

Tindak Malaysia’s founder, PY Wong calls on the Election Commission chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof to be upfront about the indelible ink.

He was responding to Abdul Aziz’s recent comments that the EC would set up a team to probe the indelible ink.

“The issue of indelible ink,” he said, “is an important step towards restoring the people’s confidence in the Election Commission, tasked with conducting a clean and fair election. However, the rakyat have raised doubts over the issue of the indelible ink and told the EC on how to best implement it based on world standards.”

For example, Code ESI of Canada produces indelible ink with a concentration of silver nitrate in the range of 7% - 25% and under the UNDP Procurement Guide, “live” human trials by the public should be conducted to gain public acceptance. All this information is available online, for example, in Tindak Malaysia website (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/showthread.php/5267-Indelible-ink-Suppliers) since July last year.

Wong pointed out that the finger also has to be dipped into the ink with a sponge and the bottle shaked to make sure that the silver nitrate is on top of the ink and stains the finger. “The ink has to stay on the finger for a minimum of 30 seconds to take effect,” he said.

While the EC Deputy Chairman, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar claimed ink can dry in 3 seconds, Wong claimed that experts say it is impossible. “We demand the EC reveal the solvent used in the indelible ink that can dry in 3 seconds.”

By failing to use the indelible ink in a manner that is prescribed by the ink manufacturers, despite the advices given through the Public Accountability Committee in 2011, Abdul Aziz runs into the risk of doing things ‘detrimental to parliamentary democracy.’ “Abdul Aziz, as the EC Chairman, has to take responsibility for any foul play,” he said.

Abdul Aziz, he added, had on many occasions denied that the ink was easily removed; instead, he had claimed that the ink was able to last for seven days. He had also stated that the EC received a letter from the Ministry of Health stating that the silver nitrate content in the ink should not exceed one percent, because he claimed that silver nitrate could cause cancer or damage to the kidney.

A voter, who is trained as a chemist, had earlier disputed the claim that silver nitrate could be carcinogenic or damage to the kidney. “Silver nitrate is used in laboratory very often. In its 99.99% purity form, it can even be purchased online (www.silvernitrate.com), and the Material Safety Data Sheet of silver nitrate from reputable laboratories made no mention about the chemical being carcinogenic or able to cause damage to the kidney,” he said.

Wong wants to know who in the Ministry of Health had written to the EC, and on what basis was the false claim made or whether the EC chairman himself had lied to the public about the content of silver nitrate. “Abdul Aziz should publish the content of the letter,” he added. “He should also reveal the name of the manufacturers.”

Wong said that it is clear now that the silver nitrate content of the ink was a mere one percent. “At one percent silver nitrate content, I do not see the need to even shake the ink,” he said. “There is no need for the EC to set up a special team to probe the ink, especially when Abdul Aziz had made several statements that are blatant lies.”

If the EC wants a team to probe, it should include all stakeholders in the team. “This would have to also include representatives from both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional, as well as representatives from NGOs and the Bersih movement,” he said. 

We, the undersigned, are greatly saddened by the violence and bloodshed which have characterised Sunni-Shia relations over time. Thousands have been killed in feuds between the two, mostly in certain Muslim countries. It is tragic that many innocent women and children have been among the victims. 

sect or doctrine. The OIC could perhaps set up a task force that will examine the Sunni- Shia divide in depth and submit concrete proposals for the political and religious leaders of the ummah to act upon.

Read more at: http://letusaddvalue.blogspot.com/2013/05/sunni-syia-message-of-peace-by-tun-dr-m.html 

Kuo Yong Kooi 

The world hydropower congress is to be held in Sarawak soon. Sarawak's dam projects will flood 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest and displace around 30,000 to 50,000 indigenous people from their native customary rights land.

The first-past-the-post system will always be advantageous to BN, a forum was told last night.

(TMI) - Barisan Nasional’s (BN) rule will continue as long as Malaysia uses the first-past-the-post voting system despite redelineation, academic Amer Saifude told a forum here last night.

The Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) deputy director said the expected redelineation of constituencies by year-end would benefit Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s coalition and even better its Election 2013 performance.

“As long as we practice this first-past-the-post system, it will be advantageous to BN,” Amer told a forum on the 13th general election outcome.

“History has shown that every time there is a re-demarcation process, BN would perform better,” he added.

Despite winning only 47 per cent of the popular vote in the May 5 elections, Najib saw his coalition keeping the government with a simple majority, bagging 133 federal seats against Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) 89.

Amer pointed out that Najib was the first BN chief to score a weaker mandate in his maiden bid for power, a reflection of the faulty fundamentals of the first-past-the-post system.

The Umcedel deputy director said the system’s glaring defect could be seen in how BN, bar a few exceptions, had never won the popular vote by more than 60 per cent but yet managed to win a huge number of the seats it contested in.

He also highlighted how several constituencies nationwide had been gerrymandered without reasonable justifications.

“Sometimes you see the re-demarcation is illogical and unfair… the redelineation process is often made to serve the interest of certain parties,” he said.

The panel of speakers at last night’s forum. — Picture by Saw Siow FengAmer, however, noted that any move to redraw the constituencies must first have the consent of at least half of the members of the Dewan Rakyat.

PR federal lawmakers have signalled their intention to make full use of their increased parliamentary numbers to ensure constituencies are fairly redrawn when the Election Commission (EC) kicks off the redelineation exercise this year-end.

PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli has said that if the exercise involves an increase in seat numbers, a two-thirds majority vote is needed to approve the changes before they are passed by the lower House.

The allegedly unfair dispersal of voters in constituencies has been used as a major argument point by PR lawmakers to back accusations that gerrymandering in favour of BN has helped the ruling pact stay in power.

Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysias-election-system-drawn-to-sustain-bns-dominance-don-tells-forum/ 

For the ruling politicians to describe these voters as being easily "duped" and "taken for a ride" – or basically plain stupid – for exercising their democratic rights is not going to earn them any respect.

Azam Aris, fz.com 

Read more at: http://www.fz.com/content/ignore-scaremongering-and-lets-move-forward#ixzz2U5AoxzKW 

Sorry for the BAD NEWS but here's some reality...

"THIS" is our NEW "HOME MINISTER" who is a GANGSTER and BEATS-UP people by himself!

Curi-curi Wang Malaysia

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=635413693154081&set=a.536740686354716.136640.535906203104831&type=1&theater 

(The Star) - Two journalists were among those caught up in a confrontation when a group of unidentified men disrupted a candlelight vigil in Esplanade to show solidarity for student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim (picture).

The vigil which started at about 8pm was attended by more than 100 non-governmental organisation (NGO) members, students, social activists and several state Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

Some 45 minutes into the vigil, a group of unidentified men arrived and one of them disrupted the vigil by using a loud hailer to claim that the gathering is illegal.

The group of men were also heard chanting “Satu Malaysia (1Malaysia)” repeatedly and saying that Adam Adli, who was arrested on Saturday (may 18)for offences under the Sedition Act, was rightfully detained.

About 15 minutes later, the participants of the vigil dispersed.

It was believed that one of the vigil organisers who were leaving, had uttered the word “samseng” (gangster) towards the group of unidentified men.

One of the men from the group then allegedly tried to run over the vigil organiser Sean Ho with a motorcycle.

Oriental Daily's reporter Ooi Chun Nam and Sin Chew Daily reporter Cheah Chin Liang tried to help Ho and were caught in the scuffle.

Ooi's glasses were broken and he suffered a cut on his arm in the scuffle.

There was about 15 minutes of intense shoving between the organisers and the group of unidentified men before everyone dispersed when police intervened.

Ooi and Cheah said they will be lodging a police report.

The event, which was held at 8.30pm in front of a fast food restaurant opposite Universiti Sains Malaysia's Sungai Dua entrance, saw about 30 students and social activists taking part.

(The Star) - At least 18 people were arrested after failing to disperse following a candlelight vigil outside the Jinjang police station in support for Adam Adli Abd Halim, 24 (picture).

At least 1,000 had gathered outside the police station since 8pm.

Roads leading to the police station were barricaded since evening as police stood watch to keep the protesters away from the entrance of the police station.

It is learnt when Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo was giving his speech to the crowd at 9.45pm, he was told by a senior police officer that the crowd was given 10minutes to disperse.

However when the crowd failed to leave in the stipulated time, the police moved in towards the crowd and began arrests.

It is learnt among the 18 arrested were four women.

This was the fifth night that crowds of protesters held candlelight vigils outside the police station in support of the release of the activist.

(Sinar Harian) - Seramai 18 aktivis termasuk empat wanita yang sedang bersoladariti bagi menuntut pembebasan aktivis mahasiswa, Adam Adli Abdul Halim (gambar) telah ditahan ketika kira-kira jam 9.45 malam tadi.

Pengerusi Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM), Muhammad Safwan Anang berkata, mereka yang ditahan termasuk pegawai khas kepada Ahli Parlimen Subang, R Sivarasa iaitu Peter Chong dan semua yang ditahan telah dihantar ke Balai Polis Jalan Travers.

Zurairi AR, TMI

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won in 59 mixed-race federal seats, almost double its 30 wins in Chinese-majority seats in Malaysia’s Election 2013, according to a new research, debunking Barisan Nasional’s (BN) claim of a “Chinese Tsunami” that cost it more losses.

Independent online research house PoliTweet.org also said the ruling BN gained most of its votes from rural federal seats while PR increased its support from urban and semi-urban areas in the South-east Asian nation chasing developed nation status by 2020.

“BN represents the rural majority and can retain power with rural and semi-urban seats alone. This election highlighted PR’s weak areas which are rural seats, Bumiputra Sabah majority and Bumiputra Sarawak majority seats,” said the report, which can be found on PoliTweet’s official blog.

According to PoliTweet, 108 out of the 133 seats (81 per cent) won by BN came from rural seats, while PR won urban or semi-urban seats with almost the same percentage (72 out of 89 seats).

PR won all 16 urban Chinese-majority seats, 12 urban Malay seats and12 urban mixed seats, giving them 40 out of the total 43 urban seats (93 per cent). In comparison, BN only won four urban Malay and one urban mixed seats.

Out of the 54 semi-urban seats, PR won 34 of them (63 per cent). BN won the rest of the semi-urban seats, with Malay semi-urban areas making the bulk of it at 12 seats.

PoliTweet also pointed out that PR had won more urban and semi-urban Malay-majority seats than BN, effectively making Malay-majority seats no longer a guaranteed win for BN.

For its research, PoliTweet categorised seats into three categories which do not follow Election Commission’s (EC) own classification, but rather were based on Google maps satellite imagery and EC’s maps.

PoliTweet defined “rural” areas as those containing villages, small towns or farmlands, and tend to be physically large with a low population. “Urban” areas are cities covered by some form of urban development. “Semi-urban” areas are a mix of the two.

Under the three categories, PoliTweet grouped 125 seats as rural, 54 as semi-urban, and 43 as urban.

Urban areas made up slightly more than half of Chinese-majority seats, but Malay-majority seats are still predominantly rural. There are however more Malay-majority semi-urban seats than Chinese-majority and mixed areas added together.

The research house also highlighted the low probability of BN regaining urban seats, as BN obtained only 47 per cent of popular vote in semi-urban seats and 36 per cent in urban seats, compared to the 57 per cent it had amassed in rural seats.

The last Population and Housing Census in 2010 showed that urban population in Malaysia has been on a steady increase since the 1960’s, with 71 per cent of Malaysians living in urban areas. The World Bank put the number slightly higher at 72 per cent.

READ MORE HERE

(ST) - Malaysia's Election Commission on Wednesday gazetted the official results of the 13th General Election, the official Bernama news agency reported, citing the commission's chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Candidates and political parties who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the May 5 polls have 21 days to file objections or petitions, starting from Thursday, said Mr Abdul Aziz in a statement.

He added that petitions can be filed at high courts in the respective states.

The student activist was arrested on May 18 for remarks he allegedly made during a post-GE13 forum on May 13.

(FMT) - Student activist Adam Adli, whose five-day remand expires tomorrow, will be charged with sedition at the Jalan Duta Sessions Court tomorrow morning.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya today said the police had officially informed about the matter today.

“The police had informed that Adam will be charged under the Sedition Act tomorrow morning at Jalan Duta. Lawyer N Surendran will be representing Adam,” she said in a tweet.

Adam, 24, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on May 18 for remarks he allegedly made during a post-GE13 forum on May 13.

In the forum, Adam, along with other activists, had called for a street demonstration to protest alleged electoral fraud during the general election.

He is being detained at the Jinjang police detention facility and is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and Section 124(B) of the Penal Code.

Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act provides that it is a criminal offence to make any oral, printed and published statements or acts with “seditious tendency”.

If Adam is found guilty of sedition, he could be imprisoned for up to three years, fined up to RM5,000, or both.

Earlier today, Amnesty International called for the immediate and unconditional release of Adam. The rights watchdog said Adan was arrested solely for peacefully expressing his views.

It also said it was told by credible sources that Adam “was subjected to interrogation from 10am until 6pm on May 19 and May 20, with the interrogators repeatedly asking the same questions”.

Adam has refused to answer the questions in the latter part of the interrogation, telling the police to just watch a video of his speech during the public meeting instead, said Amnesty.

Amnesty also urged the Malaysian government to stop using the Sedition Act and provisions in the Penal Code to stifle people’s right to free expression.

READ MORE HERE

The absence of Chinese representatives in the Cabinet should it happen will not pose major problems to the government or Chinese community, an academician said today. Selangor DAP chief Teresa Kok said her party is standing firm with its decision to seek four seats in the Selangor state executive council, and hinted that all four nominees are Chinese, Sin Chew Daily reported.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

No Chinese in government no problem

(FMT, 13 May 2013) - The absence of Chinese representatives in the Cabinet should it happen will not pose major problems to the government or Chinese community, an academician said today.

Dr Ser Wue Hiong, senior lecturer at the Foreign Languages Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said any concerns if such scenario takes place would only be for a short-term period and could be overcome.

Following the just concluded 13th general election (GE13), which saw MCA and Gerakan almost wiped out, both parties had announced that they would not take up any cabinet posts “out of respect to the voters decision”.

The decision prompted debates from all quarters.

While some feared that the community could be neglected if they had no voice in the cabinet, many including Ser think otherwise.

Ser told Bernama that the fact that Chinese voted most MCA and Gerakan candidates out in the general election proved that the issue of Chinese representation in the Cabinet was also not a concern to them.

He said politics in this new era should also break away from tradition and more importantly, elected politicians should be representing all races and not a particular race or political party he or she represented.

He added that a politician who only championed for one race would also not bode well for the multiracial fabric of this country.

“I think this is the reality of today’s Malaysia. We need to move away from tradition,” he said.

Ser, who specialises in Malaysian Chinese studies, opined that the only sector that may be impacted was Chinese education, but he was quick to argue that the problem could just be temporary.

He was also confident that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak would not sideline development of the Chinese community including on education post-GE13.

“I believe that he will make adjustments and look into new approaches to address the needs and interests of Chinese education.

“One of the ways I can see is that he will appoint a Chinese educationist to sit in his government to take care of Chinese education,” he added.

Prior to this, the portfolio for Chinese education was held by a deputy minister from the community.

************************************************

Mary Yap is unfamiliar with the Chinese language

(Sin Chew, 22 May 2013) - Just as the entire Chinese community was still wrapped in bewilderment over the prospects of Chinese education in this country, the appointment of Mary Yap, who is not well versed with the Chinese language, as deputy education and higher learning minister undoubtedly added some new uncertainties.

One of the major changes in the new Cabinet has been the merger of the education and the higher education ministries into the ministry of education and higher learning. Prior to the merger, there were one minister and two deputy ministers for each of the two ministries. The merged entity now has minister I, minister II and two deputies, at a total of four, two short of its predecessors.

In other words, the work which used to be accomplished by six people will have to be borne by only four now.

MCA used to have one deputy minister each in the two ministries prior to the merger, namely Hou Kok Chung and Wee Ka Siong. Since the party had decided not to join the new Cabinet, a representative from PBS was picked to fill the vacancy.

Different from either Hou or Wee, Mary Yap is unfamiliar with the Chinese language. To be exact, none of the four ministers and deputy ministers in the new entity knows the language.

As a result, the Chinese community is forgivably apprehensive whether issues pertaining to Chinese education would fall into capable hands in the days to come.

************************************************

DAP demands four Chinese EXCO Members

(fz.com, 22 May 2013) - Selangor DAP chief Teresa Kok said her party is standing firm with its decision to seek four seats in the Selangor state executive council, and hinted that all four nominees are Chinese, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The daily quoted her as saying that she has submitted the four names to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, and that the party has no alternative plan at the moment.

“If there is any change, we need to sit down and discuss with (the other two parties in Pakatan Rakyat). For now DAP maintains its stand; we have to wait until the MB returns from Germany on Friday for further discussions,” she was quoted as saying.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had earlier announced that Sungai Pinang state assembly member Datuk Teng Chang Khim and Seri Kembangan state assembly member Ean Yong Hian Wah will be recommended for the Selangor exco posts.

The other DAP assembly members in the state are Ng Suee Lim (Sekinchan), Lau Weng San (Kampung Tunku), Hannah Yeoh (Subang Jaya), Lee Kee Hiong (Kuala Kubu Baru) and V. Ganabatirau (Kota Alam Shah).

The Chinese press had speculated that Ganabatirau stands a good chance of being chosen, but  Sin Chew today said that Kok has given an indication that all four DAP nominees are Chinese.

If DAP secures four exco posts, then PKR’s Bukit Lanjan state assembly member Elizabeth Wong will be dropped from the line-up.

Chan Wei See, fz.com

Selangor DAP chief Teresa Kok said her party is standing firm with its decision to seek four seats in the Selangor state executive council, and hinted that all four nominees are Chinese, Sin Chew Daily reported.

Several disgruntled party members have called for action to be taken against PKR deputy president Azmin Ali for criticising the party president in public.

G Vinod, FMT

The attacks against PKR deputy president Azmin Ali escalates as more party grassroots members call for action to be taken him for critising party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

In letters addressed to PKR disciplinary committee dated May 16, one former party leader said that Azmin had breached party discipline by hurling baseless accusations against Wan Azizah.

“Azmin’s attacks received widespread attention from the mainstream media, which wants to discredit us. It’s was highly improper.

“His criticism had tarnished the party’s image and gives the impression that there is trouble in the party’s internal system,” said former Pahang PKR Youth chief Kamarul Hatta Mohamed Ali.

On May 11, Azmin made a veiled attack against Azizah for allegedly failing to consult party leaders on the choice of candidate to become the Selangor menteri besar.

He also took a potshot against Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, saying the party should not choose a “lame duck” for the top job in Selangor.

Kamarul said that as the party’s number two, Azmin should lead by example and should know better in maintaining the good name of the party.

“Any criticism against party leaders should be made internally, not in the public space. With this, I urge the party to take stern action against Azmin for his transgressions,” he said.

Another letter, sent by Hulu Langat PKR member Lee Kai Meng, also urged the party to take action against Azmin for criticising Wan Azizah.

“His attacks has caused negative polemics to be hurled against the party. I call for action to be taken against Azmin,” said Lee.

READ MORE HERE

Political analysts have mixed views over Pakatan's rejection of the election results.

Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT

Political analysts have expressed mixed views over Pakatan Rakyat’s rejection of the recent 13th general election results.

The analysts contacted by FMT today were responding to the opposition’s stand to not recognise the overall result of GE13, but readily accepted their wins in Pakatan-led states.

“I think this is practical politics, and that the disagreement comes down to those states where the votes are more or less borderline, and not outright wins,” Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Associated Professor James Gomez told FMT.

He stressed that the focus “comes down to that level of disagreement”.

“It is a two tier understanding. The general win is contingent on constituencies where the margin call on the number of votes are slim,” he said.

“Should those current seats turn the other way, obviously there will be an overall shift in the national numbers,” he explained.

“This is practical politics,” he added.

‘Pakatan does not walk the talk’

However, UUM vice chancellor Mohamed Mustafa Ishak disagreed with his colleague and said Pakatan should accept the overall GE13 results if they recognised state results.

“If you have officially accepted the mandate for your three states, you must show clearly that you are willing to accept the decision of the public by virtue and do not question the outcome of the election,” he said.

Mohamed Mustafa said Pakatan’s actions of “continuing to govern” their three states, “clearly shows the results is something that they can accept”.

“By rejecting the overall results, it is something really contradictory. It shows they do not walk the talk,” he said, pointing out that Pakatan only rejected results at the federal level and not state.

“It is the same process, at state level and federal level. So you cannot accept one and reject the other,” he said.

“Pakatan must make a stand on their accusations as right now, it is very difficult to understand why they accept three states, but not the overall results,” he added.

Aruna Gopinath of the National Defence University’s Faculty of Strategic Studies also believed Pakatan should “reject the whole thing totally” and not resort to selective acceptance.

“If you say there is fraud, then you cannot say you only want to accept certain things,” she explained.

“You must reject the whole thing totally,” she added.

However, Aruna noted that if there was “enough evidence” of electoral fraud, the Election Commission (EC) should “come in with a full investigation”.

“They must make a full study and investigation,” she said.

READ MORE HERE

Then came the 2008 general election and the impressive results gave everyone a lot of hope. So everything that was said earlier was now forgotten. But what they forgot is that Barisan Nasional won 63% of the seats on just 52% of the votes. In 1969, they won 66% of the seats on just 49% of the votes. How many percent of the votes do you think Barisan Nasional would need to garner in 2013 to still win more than 50% of the seats?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“We are not interested in the Election Commission fixing the mistakes in the coming 14th general election,” Anwar Ibrahim shouted at the rally in Johor last week. “We want the commission to declare that Pakatan won the 13th GE!”

“Never in the history of mankind, have dictators, with tanks and guns, been able to stand up against the might of people power,” he said. “So defend your rights. This is not about Anwar. It is about the future of Malaysia and the younger generation,” he said.

*******************************************

I have been writing about my personal experience in Malaysia’s general elections for a long time now.

I related what happened in the 2004 general election when I was in charge of the opposition’s campaign in Putrajaya and about the knife fight I was involved in against eight Umno thugs and how our candidate’s son was beaten up and how the police hauled me to the police station and the “back off or go home in a coffin” promise I gave the shocked Putrajaya Head of the Special Branch.

I explained that the opposition normally attracts crowds in the tens of thousands at its ceramah while the ruling party can’t even attract 100 people but yet the ruling party will win that seat.

I warned that it is seats and not votes that will give you the government and that majority votes does not translate to majority seats while Barisan Nasional can still form the government with less than 50% of the popular votes while the opposition may need close to 60% of the votes to take over.

I highlighted the fact that 70% of the seats are in the rural areas plus in the Malay heartland and if Pakatan Rakyat captures just the urban areas then it is not going to win the election.

I cautioned that the two East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak control 25% of the seats in Parliament and are Barisan Nasional’s ‘fixed deposit’ and unless Pakatan Rakyat can capture not less than 30 of the 57 seats there then forget about forming the federal government. 

I reminded you that West Malaysia has only 165 parliamentary seats and at best Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional will share about half each (80-85, 81-84, 82-83, etc.) -- which means a ‘hung parliament’ -- and hence Sabah and Sarawak are going to be the ‘Kingmakers’.

I told you the story about how I helped compile the evidence of election fraud soon after the 2004 general election to attach as evidence in the various Election Petition’s that we filed in court but later PAS and Umno did a deal to withdraw their respective Election Petitions -- except for the Election Petition that Umno filed against PKR’s President, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, that still proceeded in court (and which Dr Wan Azizah subsequently and surprisingly won).

Yes, I told you about all this and much, much more. And I told you all this not just after the 5th May 2013 general election but for a long time since the 1999, 2004 and 2008 general elections.

So don’t shout and scream about all these issues. Stop telling me about what I already know and about what I have been telling you myself for a long time. What you are telling me is only 10% of what I already know.

Have you had meetings with the Election Commission (SPR) to complain about Malaysia’s unfair election system? I have.

Have you told the SPR what needs to be done to make Malaysia’s election system fairer? I have.

Have you heard what the SPR has to say about our complaints and proposals? I have.

Have you engaged the camp commandants of the various military camps all over Malaysia in discussions about how the postal voting system is conducted and how come 100% of the military votes invariably end up in favour of Barisan Nasional? I have.

Have you sneaked in to the police station to spy on the police personnel voting using the postal voting system to witness how it is done? I have.

So don’t act shocked. You knew what was going on. I told you what was going on. You knew what was going to happen on 5th May 2013. I told you what was going to happen on 5th May 2013. But what did you do about it?

I even once, back in 2004, proposed that the opposition boycott the general election. It is pointless to participate in a general election that is fraudulent and in which you are going to get whacked anyway. By participating in something fraudulent you are just giving legitimacy to a corrupt system.

In short, launch a boycott and a civil disobedience campaign and bring this to the attention of the world that the government is illegitimate because it is holding on to power without getting properly voted into office since Malaysians are boycotting the election.

But the opposition did not think it was a good idea. In 1999, they had won Kelantan and Terengganu plus 45 parliamentary seats. If they participate in the 2004 general election they can add Perlis and Kedah and to that list plus maybe even increase the 45 parliamentary seats to 80 or 90.

Instead, they ended up losing Terengganu and got reduced from 45 parliamentary seats to just 21. Barisan Nasional won 91% of the seats on just 64% of the popular votes.

Then came the 2008 general election and the impressive results gave everyone a lot of hope. So everything that was said earlier was now forgotten. But what they forgot is that Barisan Nasional won 63% of the seats on just 52% of the votes. In 1969, they won 66% of the seats on just 49% of the votes. How many percent of the votes do you think Barisan Nasional would need to garner in 2013 to still win more than 50% of the seats?

Well, what the opposition politicians are trying to tell us is that if you win 51% of the votes then this would mean you have won the election and therefore you will be the legitimate government.

What a load of bullshit! Have you not been listening to what we have been saying these last 15 years?

It is not about votes. It is about seats. And, more importantly, it is about how you spread out these votes to make sure that your votes are in the less densely populated areas and not concentrated in the more highly populated areas.

Do you think this only happens in Malaysia?

Well, look at what happened to the UK in 2010. Look at the map below. Study the graphics. See where Labour’s voters live. See where Conservative’s voters live. See where Liberal Democrat’s voters live. Study the spread of the voters. Then understand how you can win or lose the UK election.

Then understand, as well, how you can also win or lose the election in Malaysia.

Of course there was gerrymandering. Of course there was also fraud. But solving gerrymandering and fraud is still not going to give you the government unless you also get the spread right.

While we can blame SPR for the first two sins, the opposition must take the blame for the last sin.

The opposition acted like a bull in a china shop. They still are, in fact. But they lacked strategy. And this is partly (or maybe even more instrumental) why they did not get in to Putrajaya, gerrymandering and fraud notwithstanding.

And before you say that that is the UK and we are talking about Malaysia, well, is not Malaysia using UK’s election system?

Maybe there is no fraud in the UK. Maybe the gerrymandering is not so bad in the UK. Maybe the voter variance between constituencies is not that critical and quite acceptable in the UK. But the party that garnered lesser votes still won more seats in the UK even without fraud and a serious problem of gerrymandering and voter variance.

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全都是視乎你的策略

然後就到了2008年大選，而那屆的可觀成績給了所有人希望，他們都把之前的問題都給忘了。他們忘了囯陣在那個時候僅僅以52%的選票就能奪得63%的囯席數。在1969年囯陣只是以49%的選票就拿下66%的囯席了。你想想看在2013年他們只需要多少巴仙的選票就能贏得至少50%的囯席？

原文：Raja Petra Kamarudin

譯文：方宙

“我們對選舉委員會更正第14屆大選的錯誤不感興趣，”安華上星期在柔佛的集會如此吼到。“我們要的是選舉會就此宣佈民聯贏了第13屆大選！”

“在人類歷史上從來沒有一個持槍持炮的獨裁者是能悍得過人民的力量，”他說到。“所以你必須捍衛你自己。這不是為安華做的，這是爲了馬來西亞下一代做的。”

*******************************************

我從很久以前就開始發表我對大馬選舉的看法了。

我曾引用我在2004年大選擔任反對黨布城競選活動負責人時所發生的故事：我和巫統小混混發生了刀械爭執，我們的候選人兒子被痛打，我被警察捉去警察局，我對布城特別單位領導作出“現在放棄不然就用棺材送你回家”的誓言。

我解釋過，反對黨的講座會往往能吸引上萬人群而執政黨的只有小貓兩三只，但最終執政黨還是會贏得席位。

我曾勸戒過是席位數而不是選票數把你送進布城的。多票數並不代表多席位數，而巫統只需少過50%的選票就能執政而反對黨則需將近60%。

我曾強調70%的席位都位于鄉區和馬來區，所以就算民聯贏光所有城市區還是沒法贏得大選的。

我曾警告過巫統的‘鉄票區’即東馬沙砂州控制了25%的席位，除非民聯有辦法贏得57席中的至少30席，不然他們可以忘掉他們的組織政府美夢。

我曾提醒你西馬只有165席囯席而民聯最多只能和囯陣平分（80-85，81-84等）----換句話說他們只能造成‘懸吊國會’-----所以沙砂兩州會成爲‘造王者’。

我曾告訴過你在04年大選后我收集大選舞弊證據的故事。我們在上訴選舉成績時我把這些證據一併呈上，但後來伊黨和巫統都因達成共識而撤銷他們彼此閒的上訴----除了巫統對公正黨主席旺姐的選區所提出的上訴以外，巫統堅持把這個案件帶上法庭（旺姐後來很離奇地贏得此案件）。

我告訴了你們很多很多的故事。這些都不是我在2013年5月5號后才來的馬後砲，我早在1999年，2004年，和2008年大選就不停地重復了。

所以別對這些課題大喊大叫。別來告訴我我已經知道的東西和我自己已經告訴過你的東西。你所要告訴我的只是我所知道的10%而已。

你曾就馬來西亞的不公平選舉系統而跟選舉委員會開會嗎？我做過。

你曾告訴選舉會應該怎樣做才能確保選舉系統是公平的嗎？我做過。

你曾經聼過選舉會對我們的投訴和建議的回應嗎？我聼過。

你曾經向大馬各地軍營的營長了解過，爲何100%的軍人郵寄選票都會變成囯陣的選票嗎？我做過。

你曾混進警察局來偷看警察們是怎樣進行郵寄投票來了解整個郵寄投票的流程嗎？我做過。

所以別來跟我裝得很驚訝。你早就知道會發生什麽事情了，我早就告訴你會發生什麽事情了。你早就知道5月5那天會發生什麽事情，我早就告訴你5月5那天會發生什麽事情了。但你都做了些什麽？

我在2004年甚至曾呼籲反對黨站出來杯葛大選。在一個你永遠會被打得趴地的欺詐性選舉系統裏參選是件很沒意思的事。儅你願意加入這個充滿欺詐的系統時你正間接地給著它合法性。

簡短一點來説，我們必須發動一場杯葛來獲得國際社會的注意；這個政府是非法的，因爲它不是由人民正統地選上去的，因爲人民正杯葛著大選。

但反對黨不認爲這是個很好的主意；他們在1999年贏得了吉蘭丹與登嘉樓的政權和45個囯席，如果他們參加2004年大選的話就可以更進一步地奪得吉打與玻璃市，他們甚至還有可能看到當時的45囯席增加到八九十席。

但，他們最終失去了登嘉樓政權和把他們的45個囯席輸剩21席。囯陣以64%的選票贏得了將近91%的囯席。

然後就到了2008年大選，而那屆的可觀成績給了所有人希望，他們都把之前的問題都給忘了。他們忘了囯陣在那個時候僅僅以52%的選票就能奪得63%的囯席數。在1969年囯陣只是以49%的選票就拿下66%的囯席了。你想想看在2013年他們只需要多少巴仙的選票就能贏得至少50%的囯席？

現在，那些反對黨政客所告訴你的是只要你贏得了51%的選票，那就代表你已在大選裏勝出了，進而你就是合法的政府。

真他媽的扯蛋！你們都聼不到我們在過去15年裏不停地在跟你講的東西嗎？

這和選票是無關的，席位才是真正的王道。更重要的是，你要如何把你手中的選票給分散去那些比較少人的選區而不是都把你的選票放在人口很集中的選區。

你以爲這只發生在大馬嗎？

好吧，咱們就來看看2010年英國大選發生了什麽事。看看以上地圖，了解一下這些圖片。看看工黨的支持者都住在哪裏，看看保守黨的支持者都住在哪裏，看看自由民主黨的支持者都住在哪裏。好好分析這些選民的分散度，然後去理解看你應該怎樣贏得或輸掉英國大選。

與此同時你也應該領悟出怎樣才能贏得或輸掉馬來西亞大選。

不均勻的選區選民數gerrymandering當然是存在的，舞弊當然是存在的。但是單單把這兩個問題去除掉並不足以讓你儅上政府，你還是得確保你把分散度掌控得很好。我們可以把前兩個罪名都怪在選舉會身上，但反對黨他們必須自己承擔那最後一個罪名。

反對黨現在動作就像是野牛般，但他們正正缺乏的就是策略。除了不均勻的選民數和舞弊以外，策略就是導致他們進不了布城的原因。

在你開始講説我們談及的是馬來西亞不是英國之前，想想，馬來西亞不正是沿用著英國的選舉系統嗎？

英國可能沒有舞弊。英國的不均勻選民數問題可能沒有那麽嚴重。英國各個選區之間的選民數差別可能沒有這麽大。但是，英國的一些政黨還是以少數選票就贏來了多數的席位。

(The Star) - The call by certain groups to boycott Chinese businesses is dangerous for the country’s well-being, said State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

Such a call by the groups, including the Muslim Consumers’ Society and Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia, had brought racism into a darker and more sinister level in Malaysia, he said.

“If left uncontrolled, it can lead Malaysia into turmoil and anarchy,” said Dr Jeffrey, adding that such a call totally disregarded the social harmony and unity under the 1Malaysia concept.

Boycotting Chinese businesses, said Dr Jeffrey, was not possible and even if this could be done, would spell disaster for the local economy.

“Are they so ignorant of the fact that by boycotting Chinese businesses they won’t even be able to survive? How would they live without simple things like salt, sugar, coffee, tea and noodles since these are supplied through Chinese importers and distributors?

“So don’t even talk about electrical goods, building materials and cars,” he said, urging all groups and leaders to foster unity for the benefit of the country’s prosperity and progress.

He urged the Prime Minister to speak up against such calls to show the world that Malaysia was a mature democracy and a model of progress, wisdom and social harmony.

Meanwhile, Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia president Datuk Lim Kok Cheong urged the Government to put measures in place to prevent such an “unhealthy scenario” from taking place.

“Although only a small group of people are involved in the calling of the boycott, no one should encourage this,” he said.

One must wonder if Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat had chosen go after the Bangladeshis because of their smaller numbers and weaker political clout, or whether Anwar made a calculated move to go after the Bangladeshis knowing that there would be a lesser fall-out than if he were to go after the Indonesians. 

Stephen Doss 

Malaysia’s 13th General Elections must rank as the most heated and disputed ever, even more so than Malaysia’s 1969 elections.

For the first time ever, vigilante individuals and groups took it upon themselves to patrol the streets and detain people who they felt were not eligible to vote.   

According to the Asia Pacific Human Rights Information Centre, Malaysia a multi-ethnic multi-religious country of about twenty-nine million, has about two million documented migrant workers, and at least two million undocumented migrant workers.

In 2010, it was reported that there was about 1.8 million foreign workers spread across sectors such as manufacturing (688,886), construction (288,722), plantation (256,382), domestic workers (224,544), services (180,890), with the rest being in agriculture. Majority of these workers come from the following countries ranked according to number of workers: Indonesia (917,932), Bangladesh (307,366), Nepal (175,810), Myanmar (140,260), India (113,797), and Vietnam (74,842).

It is common knowledge that the largest bloc of undocumented migrant workers numbering over two million are Indonesians, most probably for the simple reason being that they are our nearest neighbours among the list of undocumented migrant workers.

It would therefore make sense that if the Barisan Nasional wanted to commit fraud through alien voting, they would have turned to the Indonesians, and not Bangladeshis. In fact a lot of Indonesians who have been living in this country probably speak the local language even better than a lot of Malaysians making such a plan if it existed virtually fool proof.  It therefore makes little sense that Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat chose to make scapegoats of the Bangladeshis.

Which begs the questions why, why did Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat go after the Bangladeshis when it would have made more sense to go after the Indonesians.

One must wonder if Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat had chosen go after the Bangladeshis because of their smaller numbers and weaker political clout, or whether Anwar made a calculated move to go after the Bangladeshis knowing that there would be a lesser fall-out than if he were to go after the Indonesians, political repercussions from the Indonesians both in this country and from his carefully cultivated Indonesian friends from abroad.  

As it turns out, Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s mouthpiece the Suara Keadilan and a DAP politician have been forced to make public apologies to dark skinned Malaysians whom they accused of being Bangladeshis.

KIMMA, the Indian Muslim political party too has made numerous police reports claiming that their members have been harassed by vigilantes across the country because of their skin colour.

In a Post GE13 Forum last week, a panellist who is a local academic recounted how three of his research assistants, all Malaysians of Indian descent were detained for 5 hours in Kuala Trengganu by vigilantes who accused them of being Bangladeshis and trying to vote; they subsequently lodged police reports because they were not able to vote as they were only released after 5pm.

So far, despite all these revelations, neither BERSIH the self-appointed polls watch dog nor the Bar Council which often speaks up on behalf of the Malaysian Bar on matters related to human rights abuses have failed to make any comment with regards to this criminal targeting of a migrant community.

They have been quick to add their voice to that of the Pakatan Rakyat in claiming that there have been allegations of fraud in the last elections, but nothing so far on the issue of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands.

Lest we forget, Article 8 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia provides that "All persons are equal before the law and is entitled to equal protection of the law." By using the term "person," as opposed to “citizen,” the constitutional provision makes it most clear that this guarantee of rights extends to all persons, including migrant workers.

Stephen Doss is political observer, Advisor to the Social Media Chambers of Malaysia and can be found on tweeter @stephendoss

(The Star) - MCA has denied all allegations that the party is selling off its assets.

“All assets are under the MCA headquarters and any decision regarding them (the assets) has to have the support of at least two-thirds of the party’s central committee members.

“The CC (central committee) can also ask for an extraordinary general meeting to decide,” said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

He added that the party would sue those who continued to spread rumours about the party’s assets.

In another development, he said MCA was against any call to boycott goods and services because it would hurt the economy.

Twice in the recent past MCA leader Chua Soi Lek had spoken against political ownership of Malaysian media. 

uppercaise 

Questions of credibility and crumbling sales

Although MCA president Chua Soi Lek has firmly denied speculation of the party selling off its assets, among which The Star is a prize item, for its political and financial power, it is still an open question as to whether the MCA’s ownership of the paper is becoming a drag on the paper and its commercial success. [No sale]

Raja Petra Kamarudin at Malaysia Today had speculated yesterday that the MCA would suffer the fate of Umno after its deregistration and rebirth as Umno Baru in 1989, and become subject to asset-stripping by its taikos.

RPK had named the Star’s chairman, Fong Chan Onn, executive deputy chairman Vincent Lee as among those most likely to lead any such shuffling of MCA assets. [RPK]

Speculation about a possible sale of MCA holdings in property and investments (the MCA building in Jalan Ampang, Menara Multi-Purpose in Capital Square and others) arose after the party's drubbing at the general election on May 5. Only seven of its candidates were returned as MPs, and 11 as state assemblymen in its worst electoral performance.

Soon there was further talk of giving up the ghost and liquidating the party's assets.

The Star is a prize asset, together with its minor publications and three radio stations. The party’s 42% stake in Star Publications, the publishing company, bring in tens of millions of ringgit in annual dividends.

Declining value of Star shares

There is also the prospect of making capital gains — but any fire-sale of the investment in the Star would result in a massive loss. The MCA paid RM1.2bln to take over the Star stake from Huaran Holdings, the party’s investment arm. At its current trading price of RM2.60, the party’s 313mil shares have a market value of just over RM813mil — RM400mil less than it paid for the stake.

That decline in value is also reflected in the Star’s loss of credibility among the politically aware, robbing the the MCA of any advantage it might have had from the Star’s reach into the hearts and minds of the Malaysian Chinese electorate, and Malaysian society as a whole,

The market has shifted. The Star’s core readership of middle-class Malaysians in urban centres turned its back on the Barisan Nasional and the MCA at the general election, and there is increasing criticism of the paper’s sycophantic coverage of the MCA.

There is generally lacklustre coverage of opposition politics (but even that is criticised by pro-Umno bloggers and brings rebukes from Barisan Nasional flunkies at the PM’s Department).

The Star is thus caught at a crossroads, damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Coverage of opposition politics, especially of the DAP, brings swift complaints from MCA and Umno politicians. Critical coverage of opposition politicians brings swift condemnation from readers and calls for a boycott.

In the Star newsroom, as well as newsrooms elsewhere, are a large number of journalists who would be personally predisposed towards the opposition, for much the same reasons the urban middle-class rejected the Barisan Nasional at the elections: out of sympathy for the underdog, out of disgust with the oppressive and over-the-top racialism of Barisan Nasional politics, as well as professional disgust at having to give a professional gloss at propaganda.

(However any disgust at giving a professional gloss to the commercial propaganda that fills most of the other pages is mitigated by an innate sense of survival.)

Read more at: http://uppercaise.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/the-star-sellout-mca/ 

Many political analysts predicted that the 2008 general election was the worst case and the BN would be able to rise from the bottom. The MCA believed in the prediction and thus, passed the motion of not joining the Cabinet if the party performed worse than the previous election. Umno, MCA, Gerakan and other BN component parties must now adjust their mentality and face up to the new political situation, particularly the thorny political fanaticism.

Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily

The election result is a wake-up call. The BN's response and reform will affect the future political development.

To reconcile the political tsunami effects brought by the 2008 general election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak introduced the 1Malaysia concept, the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), and implemented legislative reforms since he took over the office in April 2009. However, it did not work as expected and a greater tsunami was set off in the recent general election. Najib must adjust his transformation plans to cope with the rising public opinion and face the stronger Pakatan Rakyat.

Many political analysts predicted that the 2008 general election was the worst case and the BN would be able to rise from the bottom. The MCA believed in the prediction and thus, passed the motion of not joining the Cabinet if the party performed worse than the previous election. Umno, MCA, Gerakan and other BN component parties must now adjust their mentality and face up to the new political situation, particularly the thorny political fanaticism.

The recent remarks made by several new ministers have reflected the tests faced by Najib's administration.

Education and Higher Learning Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh stressed that although there is no MCA representative in the Cabinet, the government guarantees fair treatments for schools of various mediums, including Chinese schools.

One of the demands of urban voters is fair governance and thus, regardless of whether there is a MCA representative in the Cabinet or not, the BN must fairly treat all racial groups to highlight the 1Malaysia spirit. Whether they can correct the racial mindset of officials or not would be the first test of the new Cabinet.

In terms of anti-corruption, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan said that time will tell whether he is a lame duck minister.

The anti-corruption work cannot just rely on a minister, but a sound mechanism. The BN must come up with anti-corruption performances before the next general election or Low's commitments would end up as a satire, and time will prove nothing.

As for the repeatedly postponed goods and services tax (GST), Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala has proposed that the tax rate should be set at 7%. It might imply that the implementation of the GST is imperative.

However, they should not rely only on taxation to reduce the fiscal deficit and repay national debt. Instead, expenses must be reduced, corruption must be curbed, waste must be avoided and new sources of revenue must be opened up. They could restore the support of urban voters only if they have a proper financial management mechanism and stop the populist-style money distribution.

On April 19, 2012, the government deferred the second reading of the Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 to another date and would it has the courage today to carry out a tax structure reform?

In terms of education issues, Idris said that the ministry would not rush to develop a new educational programme while Education and Higher Learning Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that the 2013-2015 National Education Blueprint has achieved some results 100 days after its implementation.

Education is the basis of national strength and prosperity. Therefore, we should move towards high-quality education. However, political interference and frequent policy changes in recent years have led to the decline of education standard. Therefore, education policy should be amended to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and retain talents.

How about the Lynas rare-earth refinery issue? International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Najib has reminded him that it is still an issue and the ministry will actively approach all involved parties to ensure that the issue is properly addressed.

Voters of that constituency have made a resolution on the rare-earth refinery issue with their votes and the government should respect the public opinion.

In short, reform should not be done superficially, but thoroughly. Whether the BN will advance or retreat, we might have to wait until after the Umno party election to get the answer.

PRS and SPDP felt they deserved better recognition since both parties delivered all the seats they contested in.

(The Star) - KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is not going to interfere in the Federal Cabinet appointments. Speaking to reporters after the first session of the State Legislative Assembly Sitting here yesterday, Taib said to interfere was not his style.

“We shall leave it to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak). I’m sure he will think (about it) after talking to them,” he said.

By them, he was obviously referring to PRS and SPDP, the state BN coalition members who are disappointed with the Cabinet appointments despite Sarawak having a record number of seven ministers and three deputy ministers’ posts this time around.

PRS and SPDP felt they deserved better recognition since both parties delivered all the seats they contested in.

In the past week, members of the two parties had been lamenting over the Cabinet appointments. Some even felt it was unfair to give SUPP a ministerial post when the party only delivered one out of the seven seats it contested in.

SUPP’s deputy president Datuk Richard Riot, the party’s only victor, was made the Human Resources Minister.

PRS was given a minister and a deputy minister’s posts while SPDP was completely left out.

PRS’ Selangau MP Datuk Joseph Entulu was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, while Datuk Joseph Salang, who is Julau MP, was appointed Deputy Tourism and Culture Minister.

Salang, however, declined his appointment, saying the post did not serve the pressing needs of the Dayaks.

PRS president Tan Sri James Masing and his SPDP counterpart Tan Sri William Mawan, will meet with Najib to resolve the matter.

When asked if he would make recommendations to the Prime Minister, Taib said he would not.

“No, I do not interfere in the Cabinet appointments. It is not my style (to do so),” replied the state Barisan chairman.

Meanwhile, state Barisan secretary-general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said there would be a discussion with PRS and SPDP to see what could be worked out.

“I do not feel it is wrong to be dissatisfied although it is impossible to fulfil everyone’s request.

“Personally, I feel that it is not important what portfolio you hold. What’s important is being able to serve and help the people,” he said.

He believed PRS realised this which was why the party wanted a more relevant portfolio.

Having said that, he said the position in the Cabinet was also not to only help Sarawak but to serve the whole nation.

As such, he said, the state Barisan would lend its support where it saw fit and under good reasons. He stressed that at the end of the day it was the people who should gain from all this (inclusion in Federal Cabinet).

Clara Chooi, TMI

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal lawmakers have vowed to make full use of their increased parliamentary numbers to ensure constituencies are fairly redrawn when the Election Commission (EC) kicks off the redelineation exercise this year-end.

PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli reminded that if the exercise involves an increase in seat numbers, a two-thirds majority vote is needed to approve the changes before they are passed by the lower House.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) does not have required two-thirds majority in Parliament, with only 133 seats to PR’s 89 seats, and will require votes from opposition lawmakers to approve the exercise.

“But if they (EC) do not add constituencies and the process only includes redrawing boundaries, this could be dangerous as this allows gerrymandering and there is no need for a two-third vote.

“In the past, they (BN) score big in the elections because the redelineation exercise is often in [their] favour ... they disperse our support to other seats,” Rafizi told The Malaysian Insider.

But the PKR strategy director said it was likely that, this time, redelineation would include an increase in seat numbers.

He said that in tandem with the DAP’s “one vote, one value” campaign push, PR lawmakers will fight hard to use their parliamentary powers to ensure voters are more fairly distributed unlike the present situation.

The allegedly unfair dispersal of voters in constituencies here has been used as a major argument point by PR lawmakers to back accusations that gerrymandering in favour of BN has helped the ruling pact stay in power.

In a recent article on news portal FZ.com, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan had pointed out that the existing delineation of constituencies defies logic in terms of size and the number of voters.

“Putrajaya has 15,791 voters compared with Kapar, which has 144,159 voters. It doesn’t make sense.”

“And then you have a state seat like Sri Serdang with 72,769 voters which is higher than the Putrajaya parliamentary seat,” he was quoted saying.

This has also earned the attention of the foreign media.

In the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Hong Kong journalist Philip Bowring commented on how PR had lost the election despite winning 51 per cent of the popular vote ― an outcome that opposition lawmakers and civil society groups have blamed on unfair gerrymandering.

“Thanks to an extreme anti-urban bias and the abolition of rules governing the relative size of constituencies, the largest constituency has nine times more voters than the smallest.

“On that basis, and taking account of the number of closely fought seats, the opposition would probably have to win at least 58 per cent of the popular vote to get a majority of seats,” Bowring wrote.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider, DAP’s publicity secretary Tony Pua said with the polls now over and efforts underway to challenge some of the results through election petitions, the next step for PR would be to focus on the coming redelineation exercise.

The EC recently said that the exercise will be kicked off by year-end after the six-month process to hear election petitions are completed. The petitions must be filed within 21 days after the results of the election are gazetted.

The Federal Constitution prohibits a redelineation exercise from being conducted within eight years of the last. The EC last redrew constituency lines in 2003.

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