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Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
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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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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:
So, let’s assume that a 7% rate will be implemented:
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
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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).
Posted on 23 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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."
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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
Posted on 23 May 2013
Posted on 23 May 2013
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.
Posted on 23 May 2013
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/
Posted on 23 May 2013
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
Posted on 23 May 2013
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
Posted on 22 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
Posted on 22 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. 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.
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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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
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.Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
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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。”
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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。
Posted on 22 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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
Posted on 22 May 2013
(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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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/
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
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).
Posted on 22 May 2013
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.
Posted on 22 May 2013
(The Malay Mail) - MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek yesterday refused to take any responsibility for the party's worst electoral outing, instead blaming it on party veterans and their "political baggage".
He said the party was forced to shoulder the burden of the past generation, and this was the reason for its poor performance.
“MCA’s new generation must take on the burden of the past generation. We have to carry the baggage of the previous leadership,” Dr Chua said after chairing the party's first central committee meeting after the general election.
He said one of the 15 party veterans had even been jailed and nearly destroyed the economies of Malaysia and Singapore.
Refusing to name anyone, Dr Chua said the veteran caused the Malaysian and Singaporean stock exchanges to close, bringing untold damage to the economies of both countries.
Asked if the group of veterans were to blame for MCA's poor electoral showing, he responded:
"Of course, lah! We have to deal with the burden which we have inherited. "I am an elected president.
What is the need fr oparty elections if we ask the elected president to resign?
"They should not have spoken about party matters openly. Instead, they should have come to see me to discuss their grouses."
Dr Chua said the party veterans should work behind the scenes if they were genuinely interested in seeing the party grow.
He said criticisms raised by the veterans were never brought up by any member during the MCA CC meetings.
Posted on 22 May 2013
Toppling him now for his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, could lead to very costly rifts in the UMNO, which the party might not be able to afford. Any change in the current leadership would probably signal that the UMNO will veer to the conservative right, counterintuitive to what the electorate might be saying. Recall that it was UMNO moderates such as Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahrir Samad who profited the most in the election.
Murray Hunter, Geopolitical Monitor
It is extremely difficult to find any real winners in the results that came out of Malaysia’s Electoral Commission; although, somewhat surprisingly, one could be Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who ran ahead of his party and who managed to preserve a majority in Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu and Pahang against an opposition onslaught, and to win back Kedah through the clever tactic of sending Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of the long-serving Prime Minister into the fray.From this reasoning perhaps Pakatan lost the election back in 2008 by not choosing to consolidate what it had won, and to pursue gaining government so vigorously. Where Pakatan ran effective and efficient governments, they gained; in Kedah, where internal problems were perceived, the state was lost, just as Pakatan lost Terengganu back in 1999.
Read more at: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/reflecting-on-malaysias-election-4814/
Posted on 22 May 2013
Stephanie Sta Maria, fz.com
Read more at: http://www.fz.com/content/did-two-million-rural-voters-decide-malaysia#ixzz2TzfMxKVC
Posted on 22 May 2013
Azran had criticised the racial tone of Utusan’s front page headline, “Apa lagi Cina mahu?”
(TMI) - Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia reported today a civil servants union and two other groups joining its boycott of AirAsia and sister airline AirAsia X, after the latter firm’s chief executive condemned the newspaper for its racially provocative headline targeting the Chinese following the May 5 polls.
The Malay broadsheet cited the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) in a front-page report urging all civil workers to avoid the budget airlines and to instead fly aboard national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and its sister company, Firefly, for the upcoming two-week school holidays.
“The power of 1.4 million civil servants can give an impact on AirAsia, so I ask all civil servants to prove this especially in the school holidays,” Cuepacs president Datuk Omar Osman was quoted saying, claiming he had received numerous complaints from several consumer groups dissatisfied with AirAsia’s service.
Several other groups were also cited giving similar reasons backing their call to make AirAsia the airline of last resort, including the Executive Officers Union (KEPAK) and the Malaysian Consumers Potection and Welfare Board (LPKPM), the paper reported.
In an apparent attempt to back up their claims of dissatisfactory service, Utusan also reported on its front page a man complaining that the airline had refused to fly back his mother’s corpse from Jogjakarta to Kuala Lumpur even though she had previously purchased a ticket aboard AirAsia ― despite the carrier not being licensed to do so.
Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/after-utusan-cuepacs-joins-airasia-boycott-call/
Posted on 22 May 2013
(International Business Times) - Malay power is important because we're concerned about keeping a pure Malay community all over the Malay Archipelago
Nazism is typically associated with racialist, nationalistic movements in western and northern Europe. But Nazism (or its contemporary form, neo-Nazism) has been embraced by some far from Adolf Hitler’s Germany.
Consider the case of Malaysia, the multiracial state in Southeast Asia, where a neo-Nazi movement has sprung up to defend the rights and survival of what is called a "pure Malay” race.
The CIA World Factbook states that about one-half of the population of Malaysia are indigenous Malays, while about one-quarter are Chinese and 7 percent are of Indian descent. Malays clearly feel besieged and threatened by the rising numbers of “foreigners” in their country.
According to a report from Vice.com, neo-Nazis in Malaysia not only espouse openly racialist theories, but they have adopted some of the symbols and language of the Third Reich and neo-Nazi movements from post-war Europe, including swastikas as well as imitating Combat-18, a notorious British fascist organization. They like to shout "Sieg Heil” and “Blood and Honor” while listening to Nazi punk bands like Angry Aryan, Skrewdriver, English Rose and Brutal Attack.
Mirroring the rhetoric of neo-Nazis and skinheads in faraway Germany, Britain and other European states, the Malay far-right wants to end all immigration into their country and keep Malaysia a preserve of the Malay peoples.
Vice found a Malay Nazi band called Boot Axe and spoke to band member “Mr. Slay” about his group’s ideology.
“Malay power is important because we're concerned about keeping a pure Malay community all over the Malay Archipelago,” Slay said.
“We're extremists in regards to the Malay race, but that doesn’t mean that we're extreme racists. It’s not about racism. It’s all about being Malay.”
Slay also complained about immigrants pouring into Malaysia.
“The government can't control the entry of immigrants, and we get so many of them,” he stated. “There are so many protests against the government about this issue, but they haven’t done anything tangible to improve the situation. Race has become a focus because of the inclusion of uncontrolled numbers of these [foreign] people in our society.”
Slay then went on to express the familiar racialist canard that immigrants increase crime and threaten the safety and welfare of native-born peoples.
“The lesson that we can learn from Nazism is that we can take extreme racist action if the position of the Malays is affected by these factors,” he declared. “We won't practice overt racism if the Malay race isn't compromised, but, if threatened, we will take action. We don’t like minorities in Malaysia if they can’t coexist with the Malay race. If they are good, then we are good.”
Bizarrely, Slay has even embraced anti-Semitism, even though there are virtually no Jews whatsoever in Malaysia.
“All Malay power punk and skinhead bands are outright anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist,” Slay proudly stated. “Malay power is connected to Islam.”
Slay admitted that neo-Nazis in Europe would not accept his group as part of their global diaspora, and he also conceded that the movement within Malaysia is probably not very large.
But what cannot be denied is that Malaysia is fraught with racial problems which have periodically erupted in violence over the decades. The world caught a glimpse of the festering problems in the country in May 1969 when race riots – pitting the poorer Malaysians against the wealthier Chinese minority – killed at least 200 people (perhaps many more), leading to the suspension of parliament, the imposition of a state of emergency, and the formation of a caretaker government.
Five years before that, when Singapore was still a part of Malaysia, race riots in that city ultimately led to the breakaway of Singapore as a state dominated by ethnic Chinese, as it remains to this very day.
In recent years, Malaysia’s racial strife has focused increasingly on its restive and impoverished Indian population, who are mostly descended from Tamil immigrants who arrived in the 19th century as laborers.
In November 2007, thousands of Indians rioted in Kuala Lumpur during a visit to the country by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. A group calling itself the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) demanded that the British government pay $4 trillion in damages for what the group described as "150 years of exploitation" of Indians by their former colonial masters.
Although that demonstration dealt with abuse by British colonial rulers, the rioters also vented their rage at the dominant Malay and Chinese communities of Malaysia.
"Our community is backward, our schools are dilapidated. We are the last in the line for jobs, scholarships, health benefits," Indian opposition lawmaker Kulasegaran Murugesan told Time Magazine at the time.
Read more at: http://www.ibtimes.com/neo-nazis-sprout-malaysia-yes-malaysia-1271165
Posted on 22 May 2013
Dasar perjuangan mereka bersifat sejagat - menegakkan keadilan, kebebasan bersuara, menentang kezaliman dan menyokong usaha meningkatkan kualiti kehidupan. Mereka tidak berhajat mengambil alih tampuk kepimpinan negara atau ingin menjadikan negara ini, negara komunis. Besar kemungkinan, falsafah komunisme itu pun mereka tidak tahu.
A. Faizal Rahman
‘Tsunami Cina’ dan tindak balas susulan
Kemerosotan sokongan masyarakat Cina kepada Barisan Nasional (BN) pada PRU-13 amatlah ketara. Di bandar-bandar besar, sokongan mereka merosot serendah 10%. Akibatnya, walaupun berjaya mengekalkan kuasa di peringkat pusat, prestasi BN kali ini lebih teruk dari prestasi terburuknya sebelum ini (2008). Jika pencapaian buruk PRU-12 dijelaskan dengan ‘tsunami politik’, kemerosotan pencapaian BN PRU-13 dikaitkan dengan ‘tsunami Cina’.
Biarpun ungkapan ‘tsunami Cina’ benar dari segi statistik, olahan media perdana bersifat reaktif dan emosional. Ungkapan tersebut diolah bagi meluahkan rasa kecewa kepimpinan BN terhadap kaum Cina. Artikel-artikel akhbar seperti , ‘Apa lagi Cina mahu?‘, dan komentari-komentari PRU-13 di television – semuanya menuding jari kepada kaum Cina, seolah-olah kaum cina adalah punca kemerosotan sokongan rakyat kepada BN
Selaku kerajaan, tindakan menyalahkan segmen masyarakat yang tidak memberikan kemenangan yang diingini, menonjolkan ketidak-matangan kepimpinan (apatah lagi jika disusuli dengan penindasan seperti yang dilakukan kepada rakyat Kelantan selama ini). Ia juga menyerlahkan hipokrasi slogan 1Malaysia. Adakah polisi ‘segalanya’ 1Malaysia itu hanya untuk meraih undi? Dan, tidakkah ia hipokrit apabila undi yang diraih tidak ’1Malaysia’, semangat 1Malaysia yang dilaung-laungkan hilang entah ke mana?
Pengolahan ungkapan ‘tsunami Cina’ juga bersifat provokatif. Ia membakar sentimen perkauman; menakut-nakutkan masyarakat Cina dan menaikkan kemarahan masyarakat Melayu. Bukankah ini tindakan provokasi yang mengancam ketenteraman awam? Bukankah kerajaan BN dahulu yang memberi jaminan keamaan semasa dan selepas proses pilihanraya?
Pelik jika diteliti perilaku pemimpin-pemimpun BN. Sikap mereka dilihat sama-sekali tidak konsisten, sebelum dan selepas PRU. Puncanya – tidak lain, tidak bukan, hanyalah kerana sistem ‘pecah dan perintah’ tinggalan penjajah yang diwarisi dan diguna pakai kerajaan selama ini, hampir-hampir digagalkan pada PRU-13.
Persepsi salah mengenai aktivisme Cina
Penulis berpeluang berkerjasama dengan aktivis-aktivis Cina sepanjang tempoh kempen PRU-13. Apa yang penulis saksikan, pergerakan aktivisme Cina ini cukup berbeza dari persepsi orang Melayu terhadap mereka.
Dari sudut demografi, aktivis-aktivis Cina ini adalah dari golongan pertengahan dan majoritinya dari golongan muda. Mereka terdiri dari pemilik perniagaan kecil seperti pengusaha kedai komputer dan butik pakaian, dan juga mahasiswa. Mereka adalah golongan majoriti Cina yang rata-rata berfikiran sederhana dan tradisional. Mereka bertutur dalam bahasa Cina sesama sendiri, tetapi memilih untuk menggunakan bahasa Melayu apabila bergaul dengan orang Melayu.
Mereka bukanlah tauke-tauke kapitalis yang licik menipu orang Melayu. Perlakuan dan karakter mereka tidak ubah seperti mana-mana kelas pertengahan; tidak kiralah orang Melayu, atau orang putih, mahupun orang Afrika – ‘simple-minded’, rajin bekerja dan suka berjenaka. Walaupun penguasaan bahasa Melayu mereka ditahap memalukan (selaku rakyat Malaysia), usaha bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu, lebih-lebih lagi golongan muda, boleh diberi pujian.
Read more at: http://secebiswaras.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/sistem-pecah-dan-perintah-yang-hampir-hampir-terkubur/
Posted on 22 May 2013
Posted on 22 May 2013
Don’t choose to be blind over abolishing vernacular schools.
Navin Karan
Having a one education system is a good platform to cultivate real multiracialism for kids from the beginning and not during the teenage years (13) where commonly they prefer to mix among their own community. It is worse when they have to enrol into remove class (Peralihan - a discrimination for kids who couldn’t master Bahasa Malaysia after 6 years).
PR, don’t be opportunists by slamming the govt as being racist or that this is a kind of punishment to the voters, please. We Malaysians have been agreeable with PR for most of their govt agendas but don’t assume we are always ‘YES BOSS’. Actually, PR should encourage us and also work together with the govt, especially on how to make an effective “Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK)” since the BN govt seems to be always dry on brilliant ideas.
And MIC, to win the Indians’ heart doesn’t mean you have to be Vijayakanth to going against it to fight for Tamil schools. Right now MIC says they are fighting for Indian rights but in actual fact they are drama kings!! You, MIC/ MCA/Gerakan/PPP/IPF/AMMA/TAM/KIMMA should propose to instate vernacular language in SK syllabus and to have it made a compulsory subject under the mother tongue category. Non-Indian and non-Chinese students should be given a choice to choose a preferred language. No excuse should be tolerated when the student or parents refuse or make the process difficult.
Ultimately, the govt is to ensure Bahasa Malaysia dikuasai oleh semua kaum as well as proficiently mastering English since the world made this language a good communication platform and it is the govt's duty to protect mother tongue languages.
Most parents or scholars prefer the upcoming generation to master certain languages according to demand. This is not a wrong perception but ‘taraf apa’ to know your own mother tongue. The mindset should be tuned; learning a language isn't to help the economy but you risk losing one's identity. They will fail to know the history of their own ancestors, the culture, the morale, the scriptures about god; all these are mostly available in their own mother tongue language. Yes, no doubt all these are available in English but how original can it be? Can you get 100% chicken curry taste in vegetarian chicken curry?
Primary school is the first 'parent' for the children and if under the same roof is shared by the same ethnicity, the bonding with just one particular ethnic group would become too strong. Thereafter in secondary school, half of the teenagers find difficulty in breaking the wall to mix around. The gap worsens when insensitive words are used ‘Cina apa lagi mau’, ‘pariah’, ‘belacan’ (examples only, don’t attack me pls!). Now look at 2 scenarios: when kids use such wrong words, the parents'/teachers' involvement is a must to correct the KIDS. We may successfully correct them with a probability of 9/10; in the same scenario, if a secondary school student uses offensive words, when the parents/teachers try to correct them, they will come up with a lot of excuses (‘dia mula dulu cikgu’, ‘dia yang kutuk kaum kerabat kita abah’, ‘depa satu geng challenge kita orang’), the probability to change is 5/10. The best way to educate the pupil about unity starts in primary schools, at a tender age without knowing their background.
I am a father of two, who is torn between wanting his children to learn their heritage but wary that sending them to a Tamil school will not give them a smooth journey from child to teenage years. I want to look forward to seeing them celebrate Raya by bersalam-salaman for maaf, zahir & batin, CNY by performing the lion dance, Deepavali with lighting the lamp around the SK schools. I wish SK will be ready with vernacular as compulsory and protected. The mindset of children to accept 1Malaysia is more open at a tender age as compared to the teenage period.
So let’s work for it, my fellow politicians.
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