Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has appointed what amounts to a survival cabinet, turning to allies of former foe Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to fend off intra-party challenges in the wake of the May 5 election, in which the opposition actually won the popular vote but was thwarted from taking power by gerrymandered constituencies.
Companies that invest in the Sarawak dams are still exposed to the risk of becoming embroiled in corruption scandals, human rights violations, and conflict. Unfortunately, for some investors, this is not a deterrent.
Kirk Herbertson, Southeast Asia Policy Coordinator, International Rivers
30,000 to 50,000 indigenous people to pay the price for Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s excessive dam plans in Malaysian Borneo
Bruno Manser Fonds
(KUCHING, SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) A new map released by the Bruno Manser Fund ahead of the International Hydropower Association’s World Congress in Kuching, Sarawak, is showing the massive detrimental effect of the Malaysian state’s dam plans on indigenous peoples and the Borneo rainforest.
The most insidious racism is just so ingrained it's involuntary. It's about the fact no one responsible for the decision even saw the existence of the problem.
The UK's biggest bank has so far made around £100 million by providing loans and services to some of the most destructive logging companies in the world, often in violation of its own policies.
(Malaysian Digest) - A former aide to PKR women's wing chief Zuraida Kamaruddin, Mohd Fareez Kamal Intidzam, has urged Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail not to defend the party presidency and make way for deputy president Azmin Ali.
It does not hinge on Pakatan Rakyat's support, says ABU's Haris Ibrahim.
Alyaa Azhar, FMT
Anything But Umno (ABU) spokesperson Haris Ibrahim said that a street rally against the Barisan Nasional federal government will go on with or without Pakatan Rakyat’s support.
(Malaysian Digest) - The 'Red Bean Army', a group of cybertroopers believed to be funded by DAP has been hard at work spreading rumors on the internet alleging the government has increased the prices of basic goods like petrol, cooking oil, cooking gas, sugar and flour in a bid to further fuel the public's anger towards the ruling government.
(NST) - MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek yesterday thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for respecting the party's wish not to be included in the new cabinet line-up following its dismal performance in the recent polls.
Tanpa disedarinya, orang mula sangsi tentang Anwar yang selama ini mempergunakan ayat Quran dan hadis bagi mengaburi mata rakyat, terutama orang Melayu apabila terang-terang cuba menentang perjalanan takdir. Dalam keghairahan memetik kata-kata Abul Ala Al-Maududi, Yusof Qardawi, Anwar terlupa kata-kata Kahlil Gibran, “Manusia tidak boleh mengubah takdir sebagaimana bintang di cakerawala tidak boleh mengubah orbitnya.”
“Well definitely he is seeking re-election this year and that will be reflected in his Umno Cabinet line-up. You can see him strategising for re-election but how is he to do that leaves a question mark because most of them are just old-timers,” he said, adding that the names announced have been in government for a very long time, even if not at Putrajaya’s highest decision-making level."
By Amin Iskandar, Debra Chong and Syed Jaymal Zahiid, TMI
Umno’s domination of the 2013 Cabinet shows Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s desire to shore up his personal support ahead of party polls but at the expense of the prime minister’s national reform measures, several observers say.
The Sabah Kadazandusun Murut Welfare and Education Association however described "as historic" the appointment of three full ministers from the community.
(FMT) - KUCHING: The much anticipated “stronger” representations by Sarawak’s loyal Dayak community in the new federal cabinet turned out to be a major disappointment.
(Bloomberg) - “The Cabinet reflects a prime minister concerned about retaining the premiership and the presidency of UMNO,” said Edmund Terence Gomez, a professor at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. “I don’t see any move in the direction to talk about reconciliation and transformation and inclusivity in this cabinet.”
Why would Umno want to rid itself of a leader who won an unwinnable election for Barisan Nasional?
Almost two million Chinese voted for Pakatan – largely for DAP really. They voted for DAP in the hope that Pakatan will form government, and that DAP will have effective control of that government. This is NOT what you or I think but this is what a vast majority of the Malays think. It is irrelevant whether it was Umno that put that thought in their mind or whether they worked it out for themselves.
For the sake of this country, the writer hopes his entire analysis is rubbish, and that he will be proven absolutely wrong and a pessimistic idiot.
Before moving on let me just clarify that this analysis is not meant to monger fear or accuse the government of anything. It is a hypothesis based on my historical analysis of post-election trends in Malaysia, and as with all hypotheses, is unproven and certainly not set in stone.
For the 13th GE, the Opposition set out a strategy of portraying BN administration as a corrupt, evil, racist and inept government while seeking to position and elevate PR as Apostles of good governance, anti-racism, anti-corruption, democracy, equality and human rights. To support their campaign, PR came up with the catchy war cry of “UBAH” and the grammatically awkward and incorrect “Ini Kali lah”.
In Sinar Harian today, Umno leaders called on Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to fulfil his promise of leaving politics if he failed to win Putrajaya in the 13th general election.
We cannot ignore the obvious: vote buying is rampant in all our elections because there is no shortage of vote sellers. Anyone who sells his or her vote clearly does not understand or appreciate the democratic institutions that so many Filipinos have fought so hard to attain.
(Bernama) - Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairman P. Waythamoorthy has been appointed to join the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Khairy has weathered the storm. Even his political foes and detractors acknowledge that he deserved a ministerial post, citing his loyalty to Umno when he was being sidelined and the number of times he responded in the name of the party in facing off the opposition and NGOs in debates and what not.
You asked what more do the Chinese want, well, can I ask what have you given me before?
This whole Chinese thing - whatever political mind-games the arse-holes are playing, I took it personally. It is for this crap that they had shoved down my throat for years that I am until today, more Chinese than I am Malaysian.
To mislead the people and squander millions of Ringgit (more than RM 6 million) of public funds to procure ‘indelible’ ink that cannot serve its function as indelible ink is, we believe, a criminal breach of trust.
Now, just like many of you, I was ecstatic in March 2008 when Pakatan Rakyat won five states and managed to deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament by winning 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats. Then things began to take a turn and things were no longer honky-dory and peachy-rosy. We began to detect some characteristics of Barisan Nasional in Pakatan Rakyat.
