(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.

(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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Clara Chooi, TMI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This has also earned the attention of the foreign media.

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

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

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

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

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

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

READ MORE HERE

(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.

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/ 

(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 

Azril Annuar, fz.com 

The United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) must "meet the demands and requirements" of the Education Ministry in order for the United Examination Certificate (UEC) to be recognised.

FMT journalists were quizzed over articles quoting Haris Ibrahim with regard to his proposal to hold a rally to topple the ruling government.

(FMT) - Two FMT journalists yesterday gave statements to the police with regard to their news reports on Haris Ibrahim’s vow to topple the government through a massive street rally.

FMT journalists Lisa J Ariffin and Alyaa Azhar were called to give their respective statements to the police under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with respect to the police officer’s power to require attendance of witnesses.

Both journalists gave their statements to ASP Ananthan Rajoo from the Dang Wangi district police station.

However, it is not clear if Haris will be investigated for suspected offences under the Sedition Act or under the Penal Code as student activist Adam Adli Halim, who also made the same call on a May 13 forum to topple Barisan Nasional through street rallies.

When asked on the arrest of Adam, Ananthan said the police had been monitoring the latter’s movements prior to the forum.

“He had been calling for a massive street rally even before May 13,” he explained.

On May 13, speakers at the forum had unanimously agreed that waiting for five years until the next general election was too long, and vowed to overthrow BN this year through force.

“We will take to the streets and take over Putrajaya. If we really want to overthrow them, there is no other way. Democracy does not work,” Anything But Umno (ABU) spokesperson Haris was quoted as saying.

“The people cannot wait anymore. We don’t want to wait another five years. We will take the streets,” he added.

He had also insisted the street government would go on with or without opposition Pakatan Rakyat’s support.

K Vasantha Kumar, who contested in Tapah, wants answers over the murder of his aide K Murugan.

Priscilla Prasena, FMT

A group of NGOs have urged the police to expedite investigations into the murder of political aide K Murugan’s during the 13th general election.

Led by PKR’s candidate for the Tapah parliament seat, K Vasantha Kumar, the group handed over a memorandum addressed to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Murugan, who was Vasantha Kumar’s aide, went missing on May 1. His remains were later discovered on May 5 in a pond in Bemban Industrial Park, Batu Gajah.

“His hands and legs were tied with wires and the post mortem revealed that Murugan had died of blunt force trauma to the head,” Vasantha Kumar told reporters.

“We believe that the murder was politically motivated as he was threatened by the supporters of MIC candidate M Saravanan,” he added.

Vasantha Kumar was accompanied by Murugan’s family lawyer M. Visvanathan and several other NGOs.

The memorandum demanded that the IGP form a special task force to investigate all political parties involved in the election campaign without fear and favour and to investigate the records in Murugan’s mobile phone.

According to Vasantha Kumar, Murugan was very helpful in organizing the election campaign in the rural and interior areas in Tapah.

Murugan had informed Vasantha Kumar that he had been receiving threatening calls from unknown persons, who warned him to stop campaigning or he would be killed.

“On May 1, Murugan arranged a ‘ceramah’ at his residential area in Bidor. After the talk, he was cleaning up the venue with his friends when he received a phone call. He left the venue and never returned.

“Murugan’s sister lodged a report with the Bidor police station when he failed to return home and was not reachable,” Vasantha Kumar explained.

READ MORE HERE

(The Sun Daily) - Former NUJ chairman Hata Wahari was heckled and booed by his former colleagues at Malay-daily Utusan Malaysia during his annual 'protest' at their office yesterday.

Some 50 Utusan Malaysia staff gathered at building's entrance at about 5pm in anticipation of a 'demonstration' led by Hata, who instead showed up alone with a message for his former employer - on a large black banner with bold white type.

"Kepada Ketua Pengarang Utusan: Hentikan kewartawanan tidak bertanggungjawab. Jadilah wartawan yang menjunjung etika kewartawanan. Jangan gadaikan masa depan Utusan untuk kepentingan diri. Jangan jadi wartawan rasis. (To the Utusan Editor in Chief: Stop irresponsible journalism. Be an ethical journalist. Do not gamble the future of Utusan for personal gains. Do not be a racist journalist.)

Several police trucks and patrol cars were also seen parked around the premise as Utusan Malaysia had previously reported that Malay right-wing NGO Pekida would be sending its members to "defend" the paper against Hata and his supporters.

Hata, who stood across the road from the office for about 10 minutes, was met by jeers and taunts by the staff - "Barua!" (goon) "Kau sakit!" (You are sick!) "Balik!" (Go home!).

A man also dashed across the road and kicked his banner, while another threw a packet of fried noodles which splattered on the road.

When met earlier, Hata expressed surprise at the 'attention' he received, stating that it was a "personal protest" which he has been doing since 2011, on May 2, to mark his sacking from the paper.

Hata, who served the company for 16 years, was subjected to an internal inquiry before being sacked for issuing statements which allegedly goes against the company's policies.

"May 2 is also my birthday and World Press Freedom Day. But this year, due to the general elections, I decided to come here on May 20.

"I did not want to involve anybody else because of possible repercussions. If any action was to be taken (by Utusan), I would be the only one affected," said Hata.

He added, Utusan Malaysia is expected to move out of its present premise by this year, and thus it is significant for him to persist in his call for them to 'change'.

"I will continue protesting every year until there is a change in the paper's direction towards upholding principles of ethical journalism," he said, in stressing that the paper's predecessor, Utusan Melayu, was a vocal critique of the government led by the nation's founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman.

The call to boycott Chinese businesses and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's silence show continued desperation and fear among the BN leaders, says Sabah STAR.

Raymond Tombung, FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Calls by Malay-Muslim groups to boycott Chinese businesses is bad enough without Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s arrogant retort for the 51% voters who voted for the opposition to leave the country if they are unhappy, said Bingkor assemblyman Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

Compounding this ‘dangerous levels’ of racism is Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s silence, he added.

“The Prime Minister needs to speak up against these calls, lest the BN (Barisan Nasional) and Umno is continued to be seen as supporting extreme racism in Malaysia.

“His continued silence in the face of this increased racism, anti-Chinese activism, and heightening of the Malay supremacy is shocking.

“He dearly needs to speak up against it to show the world that Malaysia is a mature democracy that is model of progress, wisdom and social harmony,” said Jeffrey, who is also Sabah State Reform Party chief.

Alluding to recent racially intoned rantings by the Muslim Consumers Society and the Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM), Jeffrey said if left uncontrolled it “will lead Malaysia into turmoil and anarchy”.

Jeffrey said these recent developments had taken racism in Malaysia into “darker and more sinister” levels.

“The call is also a reflection of utter disregard to social harmony and is only the tip of the iceberg in emerging social conflicts in the nation.

“This is all due to gross mismanagement and neglect on the part of the federal leaders.” he said

He said Najib’s silence was shocking considering his ardent call for social harmony and unity under his 1Malaysia banner.

“The socio-political situation now is being made worse by the Home Minister who is so arrogant that he is asking more than half of the Malaysia’s voters who voted against the BN to leave the country!

“Is Malaysia being purposefully led to descend into total chaos by its own leaders? Has this minister forgotten that he is the Home Minister for all Malaysians and not just the Umno/BN members and Malays?

“This behaviour by the Malay Muslim groups and the Home Minister is so unbelievable that one can only wonder if they have any leadership wisdom left in them.

“They make us reel back in utter disbelief at their lack of reason, good manners or diplomacy,” he said.

Are Malay-Muslims ignorant?

Jeffrey also questioned the wisdom of these groups calling for the boycott of Chinese businesses.

“Don’t the Malay-Muslim groups know that boycotting the Chinese businesses is impossible and even if it can be done it will spell disaster for the Malaysian 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.

“How do you deny the hard fact that the Chinese run the majority of the businesses in Malaysia and without them the country will collapse overnight?” he asked.

READ MORE HERE

"During a meeting here (Jakarta) in April, Anwar had asked me to convey a message to Najib that he should allow a peaceful transition of rule. It was Anwar himself who came to me to talk about commitment. Hence, he should also fulfil his commitment. Commitment is not only the responsibility of one party."

(The Kuala Lumpur Post) - Former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla has told Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to concede the fact that he had lost in the 13th General election and “move on” for the sake of Malaysia’s political and economic stability.

In a telephone interview with the New Straits Times yesterday, Jusuf said Anwar had, in a meeting in Jakarta prior to the May 5 polls, requested Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to allow a peaceful transition of power if Pakatan won.

“During a meeting here (Jakarta) in April, Anwar had asked me to convey a message to Najib that he should allow a peaceful transition of rule."

“It was Anwar himself who came to me to talk about commitment. Hence, he should also fulfil his commitment. Commitment is not only the responsibility of one party."

“The losing party must accept the reality. That is (Anwar’s) commitment. You must agree that you have lost and the loser should assist the winner (to steer the nation)."

“By right, everyone should fulfil their respective commitments. Anwar, Najib and I are beholden (to the commitment of) peaceful elections.”

Jusuf’s stance echoed the sentiments of Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob who had called on opposition supporters to respect the outcome of the election and distance themselves from uprisings to overthrow the government.

Anwar’s deputy Azmin Ali had also joined the fray, stressing the importance of fulfilling the party’s manifesto, instead of going to town to hold rallies at the expense of forsaking the people’s mandate in Pakatan-ruled states.

Their remarks came following Anwar’s campaign that included holding rallies in various locations nationwide to protest against what he alleged as electoral fraud that had “robbed” Pakatan of victory.

Jusuf, a long-time friend of Anwar, said the opposition leader should accept the election results, and reconcile with Najib for the good of the country.

It was reported yesterday that Jusuf had expressed his disappointment with Anwar over his reluctance to accept defeat and for rejecting any initiative to reconcile with his rivals in Barisan Nasional.

His disappointment was conveyed by Indonesia’s former law and human rights minister Hamid Awaluddin, who was quoted by Indonesian national daily, Republika.

The daily had quoted Hamid as saying that Anwar had promised Jusuf that he would control his opposition coalition if he was defeated by Najib, who is BN chairman.

The report said despite claiming electoral fraud, Anwar had yet to prove his claims through legal means.

Meanwhile, political analysts said Anwar’s statement that he would be arrested soon by police was typical of the opposition leader’s penchant for theatrics.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Assoc Prof Dr Samsul Adabi Mamat said it was unfair for Anwar to preempt police action to gain his supporters’ sympathy.

“All he is doing is creating unrest and unnecessary provocation in the current political climate.”

International affairs and political cluster head of the National Professors’ Council, Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, said Anwar’s latest ploy was “not something new”.

(ABN News) - Pakatan Rakyat has been criticised by supporters of Adam Adli for abandoning him in his hour of need. His supporters have expressed their anger in letters to news portals like Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider.

Theresa sent in a letter to Malaysiakini and she said: “To Pakatan, don’t just talk big, but now allow Adam to be thrown to the wolves, when Adam stuck his neck out for Pakatan’s so-called Blackout 505."

“Besides, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has also already washed his hands off and distanced himself from this kid Adam. Not only am I disappointed with Pakatan, I feel sorry that Adam could end up paying a high price sitting out in jail for people who don’t take care of him and protect him."

“Hello Pakatan, where have all your volunteer lawyers gone? Why is Adam without legal representation?"

“I watched the video by Media Rakyat on Forum Mei 13 at the KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, and there were boatloads of PKR bigshots there talking, like Nurul Izzah, R Sivarasa, Tian Chua, besides Pak Samad, SAMM chief Chegubard, ABU people and Hisham Rais."

“My sympathy to Adam, his father and his whole family. My disgust to Pakatan politicians for their charade at the Forum Mei 13 that encouraged Adam and landed him in trouble.”

In a letter to The Malaysian Insider Pravin Pillai wrote: “And Pakatan Rakyat, remember how we roared for you in Kelana Jaya? Could we hear you roar for Adam Adli? Roar. Not squeak.”

Student activist Adam Adli was arrested on May 19 in Bangsar Utama where his office is.

He has been remanded for five days and is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948.

It is believed he is being investigated for a speech he made during a public forum at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) on May 13, during which he and several other activists urged the people to stage a massive street protest against electoral fraud and to topple the government.

Umno is also dominant in Kelantan, acquiring 49.8% of the total votes as opposed to PAS' 41.1%, says a survey conducted by a Malay daily.

Alyaa Azhar, FMT

Umno remains the most dominant political party in almost all states including Kelantan, with the exception of Selangor, Penang and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, according to Malay daily Sinar Harian’s post-13th general election (GE13) survey.

“Altogether, Umno managed to garner 3,416,310 votes and won 88 parliamentary seats out of the 120 it contested, with DAP coming in second due to winning 38 seats out of the 51 seats it contested.

“Although PKR and PAS had more popularity votes at 2,033,677 and 1,579,833 respectively, PKR only managed to win 30 seats out of the 99 seats it contested while PAS only managed to win 21 seats out of the 73 parliamentary seats,” said the Malay daily.

Also, Malay voters were the determiners for Umno’s win in GE13, thus giving Barisan Nasional (BN) the upper hand in winning the majority in Parliament and taking control of the federal government even though BN attained less seats as compared to the previous elections.

Azmi Hassan from the Geoinformation and Real Estate faculty of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) said that Umno was dominant in acquiring popularity votes compared to other parties due to the shifting of Malay voters’ support to the BN coalition.

“It is also to be noted how in Kelantan, Umno managed to acquire 49.8% of votes as opposed to PAS which acquired only 41.1% of the total votes.

“In Kedah, Umno took over the reins from PAS by acquiring 45.28% of the total votes. Perlis also remains Umno’s stronghold with the party winning all three parliamentary seats it contested with 55.55% from the total votes,” said Sinar Harian.

Umno continues to be dominant in Perak when it obtained 24.64% of the total votes ahead of the other parties.

Umno also dominated other parties in Pahang by winning 55.5% of votes and winning 10 parliamentary seats it contested in GE13.

Although PKR continues to dominate by managing to win nine out of the 11 seats it contested in Selangor with a total vote-count of 550,950, Umno’s influence, however, cannot be denied as the party managed to attain 335,406 votes as opposed to PAS’ 270,506 and DAP’s 253,302 respectively, according to the survey.

In Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor, Umno’s influence is still formidable, leading other parties with votes accounting to more than 40% at each state.

Sabah, on the other hand, continues to be Umno’s gem with the party dominating with 88.2% of votes.

READ MORE HERE

(The Star) - MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has accepted the apology by Astro AEC host Gan Jiang Han who posted a message that a blackout had allegedly occurred in Bentong that led to the Barisan Nasional winning the parliamentary seat in the May 5 polls.

Liow said the Astro AEC should also carry the apology as a news report in one of its shows.

“It must tell the truth and only then will the rumours stop spreading,” Liow said in a statement Monday.

Liow had expressed his unhappiness over Gan's posting on his Facebook fanpage.

Liow had said that it misled the people into believing there was indeed a blackout at the Bentong counting centre.

Liow hoped that Gan would cooperate with the police in its investigation to establish how the blackout rumour began in the first place.

“The rumour is not only a form of character assassination, it also damaged the credibility of the Barisan and created anger and dissatisfaction among the public,” he said.

On Monday, Sin Chew Daily reported that Gan had apologised to Liow.

Gan had said in a statement that he posted the message in his personal capacity and took responsibility over the controversy it had caused.

He added that he had deleted the message, clarified the incident and issued an apology on May 7.

Gan got Astro AEC into hot water when he posted on his Facebook that “when my child is born, I will ask him to write an essay with the title, The Blackout Night.

“The beginning of the essay would be on May 5, 2013, there was a stiff fight in the Bentong seat. Someone had said that he would cut his ears if it is lost, and then the counting process started, blackout...”

His message had been shared by 18,775 people and 73,576 people had clicked “like” within 15 hours after he posted it.

Several reporters as well as DAP assemblymen Chow Yu Hui (Bilut) and Lee Chin Chen (Ketari) clarified later that there was no blackout or any sudden “appearance” of a ballot box.

Liow retained his Bentong parliamentary seat in a close fight with DAP's Wong Tack.

(The Star) - Organisers of a planned rally here said some 48 non-governmental organisations and civil society bodies are expected to take part in the gathering on Saturday.

Spokesman Badrul Hisham Shaharin said the gathering, at the city council field next to the Amcorp Mall, would raise claims of electoral frauds of the recent GE13.

He added that it would not pre-empt the efforts of some political parties challenging the polls results.

When asked if the police had been notified of the proposed Pesta Suara Rakyat gathering, he merely said “it was under control”.

“We are going to the streets not to overthrow the government or cause chaos but to demand that democratic rights be returned to the people,” Badrul Hisham, also known as blogger Chegubard, told a press conference here yesterday.

The defeated PKR candidate for the Sungai Acheh state seat in Penang said the gathering would call for the resignation of Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and his team to pave the way for a new committee answerable to Parliament.

He said another demand was for fresh elections to be held in seats where fraud was allegedly evident and a third demand was for all parties to support the formation of a people’s tribunal to gather information of electoral irregularities.

On allegations the Opposition was leaning towards a “Malaysian Spring”, he said it was merely psychological war by the authorities against the people.

(The Star) - Kampung Tunku DAP assemblyman Lau Weng San has lodged a police report over an alleged offensive and seditious posting in the Sayangi Selangor Facebook fan page.

The page uploaded an article regarding several strategies allegedly used by DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang to win the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat, said Lau, who lodged his report at the Sea Park police station here yesterday.

“The posting was uploaded on Friday,” said Lau.

He urged the police to investigate the posting which could cause racial tension in the country.

He also called on the police to in­­vestigate Selangor Barisan Nasional coordinator Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed, who is allegedly behind the postings in the page.

Among the claims contained in the article was that Lim had garnered Malay support by donating to the surau and mosques in Gelang Patah, besides opening stores that sell items at prices much lower than those sold at the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M).

The postings also claimed Lim had offered RM100 to Malay youngsters in Gelang Patah to join DAP and that he also appointed Malay youths to create trouble among Umno, PAS and PKR.

(Bernama) - The identities of three opposition leaders, who were said to be behind the Lahad Datu armed incursion, will not be divulged to avoid prejudice when the case is brought to court, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said all documents and detailed information acquired by the police and the Defence Ministry on the trio, two of them from the peninsular and another from Sabah, would be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for scrutiny.

Ahmad Zahid (picture) was responding to a call by SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee to him to name the three opposition leaders allegedly involved in the incursion by a group of armed terrorists from southern Philippines in February.

At the height of ‘Ops Daulat’ to flush out the terrorists, Ahmad Zahid was quoted as saying that the identities of the trio would be disclosed after the 13th general election to avoid accusations that the issue would be used for political expediency.

Ahmad Zahid was visiting Bukit Aman along with his deputy, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, and Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi.

(FMT) - MIC will face a risk of being de-registered simply because G Palanivel’s position as the president is illegitimate.  

The MIC constitution does not give the party's Central Working Committee arbitrary powers to prolong the term of president as long as the president wishes.

Members of the powerful Central Working Committee (CWC) which is also MIC’s highest policy–making body must now without further delay call for an urgent meeting to discuss Article 51 of the party’s constitution and advice the members on the status of presidential election.

If this doesn’t happen quickly, MIC will face a risk of being de-registered simply because G Palanivel’s position as the president is illegitimate. This will and can prompt the Registrar of Society to conduct investigations.

The CWC needs to exercise its powers to make a final and conclusive decision. Elections for all party positions must be held at the soonest.

The CWC shall be responsible for and conduct of the presidential election. The CWC should have appointed an “Election Committee” to conduct the election not later than three months before the expiry of the term of the office of the president.

This is clearly stipulated under Article 58.3 of the party constitution.

Though I am not a constitutional law expert, isn’t it legally binding on the CWC to inform the party delegates on this legal technicality.

The CWC cannot deliberately allow Palanivel to stick to the party leadership. The CWC has breached the law by not doing so.

MIC is grappling with the question how to stay relevant during the time of changing political landscape, and now with this legal complications, the party is clearly heading towards disaster.

S Samy Vellu was re-elected party president on March 2009. Since then, four years have passed. Based on simple logics, Palanivel has no locus standi to run the party. He took over from Samy Vellu as an acting president in March 2010.

Read more at: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/05/21/mic-presidential-contest-and-full-moon/ 

Meena Lakshana, fz.com

PKR's Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Elizabeth Wong have accepted the possibility that they may not been reappointed to the Selangor state executive council.

A prominent PKR member also says that the deputy president has set a bad precedent by washing party's dirty linen in public

B Nantha Kumar, FMT

A prominent PKR grassroots member today called on party deputy president Azmin Ali to apologise to Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismal for initiating baseless attacks against the party president.

“What Azmin did was really unhealthy for the party. And we, party members want him to apologise to Wan Azizah,” Dr V Neduchelian, a member from Kapar PKR division, told FMT.

He said by ‘attacking’ Wan Azizah in the mainstream media, Azmin had set a bad precedence which allows party members to use the media to criticise the party and its fellow leaders.

“All discussions involving party matters should be discussed behind closed doors . This is the advice given to us. But what surprises us, is that the same leader who propagates this uses the media to attack the president,” he added.

Recently, Azmin, who retained his Gombak parliamentary and Bukit Antrabangsa state seats, criticised the party leadership for nominating Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as the Selangor Menteri Besar without the consensus from Selangor PKR. Azmin is the Selangor PKR head.

Azmin said Wan Azizah had submitted a letter to the Selangor palace nominating Khalid Ibrahim before getting consensus from the state PKR leaders. He also accused the PKR president of nepotism.

“It is really weird that Azmin is talking about nepotism. In the last general election, he picked leaders aligned to him to contest seats. Those against him were not even given seats to contest. This is an open secret in PKR.

“Azmin is not fit to talk about nepotism or cronyism since he himself piggybacked on PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s popularity to reach where he is now,” he said.

READ MORE HERE

Anizah Shukry, FMT

Malaysians must boycott the “pesta kegilaan” (festival of madness) by the opposition over claims of electoral fraud and accept that Barisan Nasional won the 13th general election.

Newly minted Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said this when asked to comment on Home Minister Zahid Hamidi’s statement that Malaysians unhappy with the electoral system should emigrate.

“I have to see the context of Zahid’s statement, what was reported [before I can comment]… but I agree…that there are ‘madness festivals’ being run by sore losers,” said Ahmad Shabery at a press conference today.

“I feel this must be stopped. Most importantly, the rakyat must stop them, must boycott them and leave them because these festivals are about rejecting the decision made by the rakyat through our electorate system,” he added.

Ahmad Zahid wrote in a column published last Wednesday in Utusan Malaysia that the opposition was deliberately confusing “Chinese youths and politically blind followers” into protesting the election results.

This was in response to the series of mega rallies Pakatan Rakyat organised, claiming that electoral fraud and an incompetent Election Commission had robbed them of their victory.

But Ahmad Shabery today mocked the opposition and their supporters for “behaving like children” and “shrieking here and there” and suggested that their actions contravened the country’s democratic and constitutional system.

“We have to see what laws applies against these sore losers who act outside the limits of our democratic and constitutional system,” said Ahmad Shabery.

“Are they seen as going against our constistution and democratic system?” he asked.

READ MORE HERE

Robert Phang says the anti-graft watchdog must now monitor the new minister’s performance.

Alyaa Azhar, FMT

Paul Low violated Transparency International’s code of ethics when he accepted his appointment as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, former MACC advisor Robert Phang said today.

He said Low, who has yet to quit his post as Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) chief, caused shock among the organisation’s executives when he accepted his new job.

“His appointment is a violation and serious breach of the TI-M code of ethics,” he added. “I’m sure there’ll be outcries from TI-M members.”

Recently, Low explained that his job in the Prime Minister’s Department was to propose changes to government systems, procedures and processes to reduce opportunities for corruption.

He said he had no enforcement powers and was hoping to rely on the Prime Minister’s stature to enable him to fight corruption.

Referring to that statement, Phang said it was an admission by Low that he was a lame duck.

“So what can the rakyat expect from him?”

Phang claimed that TI-M members were already questioning Low’s integrity. He said the anti-graft watchdog would now have to monitor the new minister’s performance.

READ MORE HERE

(Bernama) - The government would not be issuing warnings anymore but would act tough against individuals whose extreme actions would only disrupt public order, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today.

At first Chua sneered at Lim Keat Siang’s announcement to contest in Gelang Patah and said that Lim was ‘dreaming’. It would later turn out that Lim’s ‘dream’ had come true. We all witnessed how energetic and enthusiastic Lim could be even he is already in his seventies. He fought with such zeal over the past month, he travelled north and south for thousands of miles and he kept his morale high to the last minute. It was not by luck that DAP emerged a winner, for Lim had been giving out ceramah not only in his constituency but all over Malaysia.

By Xing Yue Zhen邢月珍 @ nanyang.com

The election results are pretty much set. From 15 parliament seats and 36 state assembly seats in 2008 MCA saw their numbers dropped to 7 and 11 respectively in recent election. MCA have since closed down their service centers in many areas as if they are exercising their revenge: if you did not help me, I will not help you! 

A defeated candidate in Johor even said: go seek help from the candidate who won! Another politician also stated that MCA will only help those who voted for them and requested the others to ask help from DAP. MCA are not only being ridiculous acting this way but they are digging their own grave as well.

Politicians should set their hearts at serving the community selflessly. But for these MCA leaders, it is apparent that wining election and becoming government officer are more important. DAP had never been in power before 2008 and they had endured being ‘title-less’ for more than 50 years, hence just by mere comparison it is easy to see why MCA have failed to win the hearts of the people.

Voiceless and gutless in the face of discriminative policies

The people have already abandoned all hopes on MCA. They have been known to always kowtow to the autocratic UMNO and remain voiceless and gutless in the face of discriminative policies: as long as they keep their positions, all other issues can go to hell!

The recent turbulences that hit MCA are none other than the quarrel over the decision to not be a part of Cabinet and the plan to overthrow Chua Soi Lek. Though MCA had previously announced that should they lose in the election they would not want to be in the Cabinet, some leaders are still trying to overrule that decision. It seems that MCA are facing a dilemma in keeping a clean sheet as the Sultan of Johor has already instructed that Tee Siew Kiong of MCA should be named an EXCO member. It is very likely that winning candidates in other states will follow the same ‘strategy’.

The screams demanding Chua to immediately step down have been non-stop even though he already announced that he wouldn’t participate in the coming party election; even the long-retired past leaders also jumped in with their sharpened swords. From the leader of MCA Chua has become what the Chinese would call ‘a rat that running across a street – kill it!’ Sigh, where should MCA bury its ‘face’?

Dream came true for Lim Keat Siang

You can find among the screamers some committee members who used to support Chua in becoming their leader. They should have known that a tainted leader will always have his ball grabbed by the enemies and that they should be prepared to face the situation they are facing today. It can’t be that 3 years ago Chua was very competent but he suddenly turned ‘incapable’ after the GE, hence why didn’t they react when things started to go wrong but only started making noises after the results were out?

Chor Chee Heung whacked Chua for being too overconfident that he did not consult others when making decisions. If what Chor said is true, then why did they not stop Chua and force him down in the first place?

DAP fought a brilliant battle in the recent GE with a never-seen-before hit rate. If it weren’t for PKR and PAS losing composure during the last stage, they could have won the election and placed themselves in Putrajaya by now. 

At first Chua sneered at Lim Keat Siang’s announcement to contest in Gelang Patah and said Lim was ‘dreaming’, but it would later turn out that Lim’s ‘dream’ had come true. We all witnessed how energetic and enthusiastic Lim could be even he is already in his seventies. He fought with such zeal over the past month, he travelled north and south for thousands of miles and he kept his morale high to the last minute. It was not by luck that DAP emerged a winner, for Lim had been giving out ceramah not only in his constituency but all over Malaysia. No matter which opposition ceramah you attended in Johor you could always see Lim’s face and hear Lim’s voice. It is not an overstatement to say that Lim alone accounted for the 3-parliament-13-state wins in Johor.

Najib did not manage the country properly

Not every candidate has what it takes to leave his/her safe seat to contest in other area, especially if that area is the opposition’s stronghold. It takes a lot of courage to do so, hence politicians like Loke Siew Fook, Liew Chin Tong and Teo Nie Ching should also be applauded. We should also give compliments to all the nameless heroes who worked behind the backdrop tirelessly to put up such a brilliant strategy.

Lim has seen the insides of many jailrooms in his fight for democracy and justice. The fact that he still keeps his beliefs and acts in accordance to the ethic is very admirable. I however hope that DAP can do away their internal problems and recruit more members from all races. It is of upmost importance that they do not alter their beliefs even when they are desperate to gain powers; they should keep their fight for democracy and justice but not for self-interest.

Before the GE my young daughter asked me why we shouldn’t vote for Najib. It surprised me that I did not know how to simplify a complicated political matter as such into a clear, short answer without misleading her

I thought for 3 seconds, then I told her: Because Najib did not manage the country properly. I thought to myself that was a very good answer, in a mere sentence I summarized all the problems. This is indeed a very good answer, one which by itself is more than enough to answer all.

Read more here http://nanyang.com.my/node/535021?tid=490#.UZiMShLNdYo.facebook

(NST) - Former Indonesian president Jusuf Kalla has expressed disappointment with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whom he said had rejected his defeat  and any form of reconciliation with his rivals in Barisan Nasional.

Jusuf's disappointment was conveyed yesterday by Indonesia's former law and human rights minister, Hamid Awaluddin, who was quoted by the online portal of an Indonesian national daily, Republika.

"Yes, of course Pak J.K. (Jusuf) is disappointed but (he) is in the midst of trying to bring things back to normal," Hamid was quoted as saying.

He explained that Anwar had promised Jusuf that the former would control his opposition coalition if he was defeated by his rival, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who chairs the BN coalition.

Republika said since the election was over, the Pakatan pact led by Anwar had been holding rallies in various locations nationwide, claiming electoral fraud.

Anwar and his supporters had cast doubt on the running of the election, something which Republika said needed to be substantiated through legal means.

"However, Anwar has yet to move towards that line (proving his claims)."

Hamid said Anwar had from the beginning given the perception that he was confident of victory in the polls, based on surveys conducted prior to it.

Anwar had cited these surveys during his campaign and this was reported widely by the people and media.

"This was among the reasons the opposition leader was confident of victory," said the daily.

It claimed that it was Anwar's confidence in claiming victory which led to him "approaching" Jusuf, who was a long-time friend of Anwar.

Republika said Jusuf, through Anwar, wanted to convey to Najib that there needed to be graciousness on the part of those defeated in the polls.

It said whoever won the Malaysian general election needed to reconcile with those who were defeated and that the "losers had to appreciate the winners".

(The Star) - The rift between Hindraf founders and brothers P. Uthayakumar and Waythamoorthy is set to widen with the elder brother, who lost in his bid to take the Kota Raja parliamentary and Sri Andalas state seats, blaming his sibling for the polls defeat.

Uthayakumar, who is Hindraf co-founder and Human Rights Party pro-tem secretary-general, also accused his brother of betraying the movement by joining hands with Barisan Nasional.

Waythamoorthy, newly appointed as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, had reportedly signed a memorandum with Barisan on April 18 concerning Hindraf’s five-year blueprint to uplift the Indian community.

He had said he turned to the Barisan as he felt the opposition front had not delivered on its promises or endorsed the Hindraf blueprint.

He had previously expressed hope that the sour relationship with his brother would be mended after the elections. They have reportedly not spoken to each other for two years.

“We had a post-election meeting last Saturday and 26 of the 30 people who attended said Waythamoorthy was the reason why we lost,” said Uthayakumar when contacted.

“We may not have won but if it was not for Waythamoorthy, we will not have lost our deposits.”

Uthayakumar said he had been asked if he would be joining the Barisan like his brother.

“Joining Barisan has never been Hindraf’s struggle,” said Uthaya-kumar who also attributed his losses in GE13 to the “change factor” which was strong but did not include Hindraf.

Waythamoorthy said Uthaya-kumar had no right to criticise his appointment as he had left Hindraf to form HRP.

His appointment, he said, was another step towards Hindraf’s vision of uplifting the underprivileged in the community, adding that the movement was not a political party.

“It (Hindraf) is an organisation with the sole purpose of improving the lives of the poor. This appointment enables us to serve that purpose and that only,” he said, adding that it would also enable them to implement the blueprint.

Waythamoorthy’s appointment as deputy minister has created a wave of dissatisfaction among people from both sides of the political divide. However, he is unfazed by his critics and said they will be “eating their words”.

“They (the detractors) have been happily naysaying almost everything that we (Hindraf) have been engaging in, ever since we went into this partnership with Barisan,” he said.

Political youth: MCA members (from left) Chew, Liaw, Desmond, Lim and Nicole holding up speech bubbles calling for party renewal. 

(The Star) - A group of six young MCA members has launched a new movement to overhaul the party, calling for direct elections to empower members to have a bigger say in the party's direction and leadership.

Chew Hoong Ling, who is one of the six founders, said there was a need to reform, rejuvenate and revamp the party after its disastrous outing in the May 5 general election.

She said among the reasons the party did badly in the polls was because it had lost public support as well as the lack of a voice among members to determine its direction.

“We feel power should be returned to the grassroots so that they can directly vote for new party leaders and be directly involved in the party's renewal process.

“The question is not who should quit or who controls MCA but who determines the leadership and direction of the party.

“This is important to redeem the pride of the members and party,” she told reporters here yesterday.

Among others, the movement aimed to reconnect with active party members, adopt a direct elections system and have a mechanism to determine who are to be appointed to government posts.

Chew, who stood and lost against DAP's Tony Pua for Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary seat, said they would be compiling feedback on the party's future direction via their website at www.mcachange.my, adding that all were welcomed to give their views.

“We hope to submit the views to the leadership and for these to be adopted as a resolution so that the party can start its change from within,” she said.

Another founder Desmond Wong, 36, said they were going ahead with their plans although the movement was not sanctioned by the top leadership.

“We must be brave to start from zero, to rekindle our spirit.

“The new MCA generation needs to have a strong heart to make a change,” he said, adding that the “C” in MCA should also stand for Change.

Other founders of the movement are Nicole Wong, 33; Lim En Theng, 29; Joe Liaw, 36, and Winson Tan, 27.

DBKL has been ineffective in improving the administration of KL, says DAP's Lau Weng San.

Alyaa Azhar, FMT

Kampung Tunku DAP state assemblyman Lau Weng San today urged the federal government to return the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur to Selangor.

“The federal government should return the administration of Kuala Lumpur to the Selangor state government after alienating Kuala Lumpur to the federal government 39 years ago.

“In 1974, the then Barisan Nasional government decided to alienate Kuala Lumpur as a whole to the federal government’s administration, which is politically motivated by ostensibly upgrading Kuala Lumpur as a ‘federal territory’,” said Lau.

Kuala Lumpur was then placed under the administration of Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), which was led by Kuala Lumpur’s mayor.

Lau claimed that after 39 years under the direct administration of DBKL, “DBKL was ineffective in improving the administration of Kuala Lumpur to a point where DBKL was adopted by Permudah to ‘restore’ DBKL.”

He further asserted that it occurred because KL has been administered by way of centralisation of power in the hands of the Mayor and Federal Territories Minister.

“The citizens of Kuala Lumpur hadn’t any chance to voice their point of view when the decision was made to alienate Kuala Lumpur to the federal government,” claimed Lau, adding that the decision to alienate Kuala Lumpur to the federal government was done in a rush.

“Furthermore, the federal government has Putrajaya as central administration to replace Kuala Lumpur. And in 1974, the federal government only paid RM200 million as compensation to the Selangor government as ‘acquisition’ of Kuala Lumpur.

“Annually, the Selangor government only receives RM18.3 million from the federal government in compensating yield loss from alienating Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as Federal Territories to the federal government,” said Lau.

He reiterated that therefore the federal government has to return Kuala Lumpur to Selangor since the federal government already has Putrajaya.

“Kuala Lumpur resembles the lifeblood of the Selangor state. It is not only that Kuala Lumpur is physically close to Selangor, but many of Selangor’s historical moments and events occurred in Kuala Lumpur.

“My objective of repeating this call is to remind the federal government that they should not be silent on this matter anymore.

“In fact, the federal government should acknowledge the role of the Selangor government in matters related to the development and management of Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

(NST) -  Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has been asked to justify the reappointment of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Selangor economic adviser.

Kuang assemblyman Abdul Shukur Idrus said in the past five years Anwar had brought no apparent investment into Selangor.

Instead, the Selangor government had sold many of the state subsidiaries' assets, he claimed.

"Land owned by PKPS (Selangor Agriculture Development Corporation) was sold, a golf course in Templer and PKNS (Selangor State Development Corporation) land were sold to developers.

"What did the economic adviser do to improve Selangor's economy? What we can see happening is blatant stripping of the state's assets," he said.

Yesterday, Khalid tweeted that Anwar was expected to "continue playing an important role in the state administration" because of his experience.

Meanwhile, Permatang assemblyman Sulaiman Abdul Razak said Anwar should keep his word and retire from politics after Pakatan failed to take Putrajaya.

He said Anwar should not accept any position, including that of Selangor economic adviser.

Sulaiman said the position would enable Anwar to use state facilities to further his political interests.

Meena Lakshana, fz.com

Pakatan Rakyat's popular vote win in GE13 is limited to four states and Kuala Lumpur, according to an analysis by Sinar Harian.

READ MORE HERE

Student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim has been remanded for  five days  to allow police to question him over remarks he allegedly made at a post-GE13 forum.

Boo Su-Lyn, TMI

The Selangor DAP is questioning the state executive council composition announced by Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim yesterday, barely a week after a furore in PKR over the state’s top post was settled.

State DAP deputy chairman Tony Pua said the party was supposed to get four exco seats instead of the three announced by Khalid, adding that the pick for state Speaker was not as agreed.

“Last night, we found out a different set of names,” Pua told reporters in Subang Jaya here today.

“We want to know why; there was no problem on Thursday. It was a quick half-an-hour meet,” he added.

Pua pointed out that Khalid and Selangor Pakatan Rakyat ― represented by state DAP leaders Teresa Kok and Datuk Teng Chang Khim, as well as state PAS leaders Khalid Samad and Dr Rani Osman ― had agreed in a meeting last Thursday that the DAP would get four spots in the state executive council, while PAS would get three and choose the Selangor Speaker.

Khalid told reporters last night that four Selangor executive council posts would be given to PAS, while the DAP and PKR would get three each, apart from the state Speaker being a DAP lawmaker.

Pua said he only found out about the allocation of the exco seats through a tweet by Khalid last night.

“We’re surprised by Tan Sri (Khalid),” said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.

“What’s the point of the meeting then?” he added.

Pua said that Teng and Kok have been trying to contact Khalid for clarification, but to no avail.

Last night, Khalid said that a list of names for the Selangor executive council, along with proposed alternatives, was submitted to the Sultan last Friday.

He said the state executive council will be sworn in within the next two weeks.

READ MORE HERE

Leven Woon, FMT

DAP has disputed Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s statement that the party will be given three exco and one speaker posts in the state administration.

Citing the meeting between Pakatan Rakyat component parties last Thursday, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said the consensus arrived was for DAP to have four exco posts, PAS three and the speaker posts, while PKR will take three exco posts and the Menteri Besar post.

However, Khalid told reporters a different version at a function last night where he said DAP would have the speaker posts while PAS would have four exco spots.

He also said the name list had been submitted to the Selangor Sultan on Friday, and DAP would decide on its speaker candidate.

Pua said the party was surprised by Khalid’s statement because this is not what the coalition had agreed upon.

He said during the 30-minute meeting on Thursday, PAS had agreed to swap their quota with DAP, which would see the Islamic party taking up three exco and one speaker posts.

“If now he submitted a different set of names, then what is the point of the meeting?” he said.

He said DAP would question Khalid on the matter once the MB returns to Selangor on Friday.

“I hope he made a mistake and told the reporters wrongly,” he said.

DAP announced last Friday that the party had chosen incumbent Selangor assembly speaker Teng Chang Khim and incumbent exco for new village Ean Yong Hian Wah for the exco posts.

Pakatan retained power in Selangor with a greater majority in the recently concluded general election. DAP and PAS obtained 15 seats each out of the 56 seats, while PKR bagged 14.

'But why should I retire? We won. Are Umno people stupid? We won and we will fight together with the people against this robbery, says Anwar at a Penang rally.

Athi Shankar, FMT

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim will not retire from active politics any time soon, hinting that he would still be around come the next general election.

The Permatang Pauh MP defied calls for him to retire by claiming that Pakatan Rakyat had actually “won” the 13th general election, only to be robbed by electoral frauds.

He said Pakatan’s popular votes, which were more than Barisan Nasional’s, proved that majority Malaysians have voted for a change of federal government.

Strangely, he claimed that the popular choice of the people had become the opposition while minority choice had formed the government.

Hence, Anwar told a nightly rally here yesterday that he would not heed to quit calls made by his opponents.

Critics have called on Anwar to make good of his pre-election promise to retire and go into lecturing if BN won the polls and retained Putrajaya.

Many cyber commentators have called on Anwar to fulfill his promise for once this time. But Anwar is adamant he would not heed their call.

“Yes I said I would retire from politics if Pakatan loses. Some told me to retire as promised and to fight it out next time.

“But why should I retire? We won. Are Umno people stupid? We won and we will fight together with the people against this robbery.

“We can’t tolerate this rigging, robbery and fraud. We want answers now,” he thundered before a roaring and flag-waving mammoth crowd in Esplanade field.

A total 11,054,577 votes were recorded for federal contest in the just concluded polls on May 5. Pakatan garnered 50.9 or 5,623,984 popular votes against Barisan Nasional’s 47.4% or 5,237,699.

The three parties in Pakatan – Chinese-dominated DAP, Anwar’s PKR and Islamist PAS, collectively won 88 parliamentary seats against BN’s 133 seats.

Pakatan-friendly Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) won a federal seat in Sungai Siput to make it 89 in the parliamentary opposition bench.

Soon after the polls, Pakatan led by Anwar has been organising rallies across the country to claim that their victory was robbed by electoral frauds and an incompetent Election Commission.

Pakatan leaders also claimed that they were rightful, legitimate winners due to higher popular votes, while hammering BN as a minority government.

READ MORE HERE

(The Star) - DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has warned former DAP vice-chairman Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim to cease further attacks on the party or he would bring the latter to court.

"He is completely getting out of hand. I have been watching him very closely.

"The DAP leadership was guilty of serious misjudgement in having given Tunku Aziz membership for the party and immediately made a vice-chairman.

"He is not grateful but an opportunist," he told a press conference after a thanksgiving session with the public at a market in Jalan Gangsa in Green Lane on Sunday.

Tunku Aziz had quit the party in May last year.

Karpal Singh said that while Tunku Aziz has not made personal attacks on him, the latter has gone beyond the limit and must stop with the 'persistent attacks' on the party.

When asked on how Tunku Aziz would be charged if brought to court, Karpal Singh said it would depend on what the former said.

"Bringing him to court is the last thing we want to do," he said.

Karpal Singh added that Tunku Aziz should be a gentleman and not reveal whatever that had transpired during central executive committee meetings when he was still a member.

Boo Su-Lyn, TMI

The Selangor executive council will be sworn in within the next two weeks, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said yesterday.

He added that PAS will take four spots in the state executive council, while PKR and the DAP will get three seats each.

“The list of names that was given to the Sultan includes alternative names,” Khalid (picture) told reporters after a thanksgiving function at Pandamaran Jaya here last night.

“I gave alternative names so that Tuanku will have the chance to make his choice,” he added.

Khalid refused, however, to name the executive council line-up or to confirm if PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was included in the list.

Azmin was said to be eyeing the mentri besar post, leading to a protracted tussle over the top government position in Selangor until Khalid was sworn in last Tuesday, more than a week after the May 5 general election.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said last Friday that party members Teng Chang Khim and Ean Yong Hian Wah will be joining the Selangor executive council.

Teng served as the Selangor Speaker in the last term, while Ean Yong, who is also the Seri Kembangan assemblyman, was previously a member of the state executive council.

Khalid said yesterday that the DAP will decide on who will take up the post of the Selangor Speaker.

Khalid was reappointed Selangor mentri besar for a second term after Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won a two-thirds majority in Election 2013 by sweeping 44 of the 56 state seats in the country’s most industrialised state.

PAS and the DAP snagged 15 state seats each, while PKR took 14 seats.

Boo Su-Lyn, TMI

The call by pro-Umno bloggers and Muslim groups for a boycott of Chinese businesses is racist and will harm the country’s economic growth, according to businessmen from the community.

Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of the year as a result of weaker exports and slower growth in public spending, compared to 4.7 per cent in the same quarter in 2012 and 6.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2012.

“How can you say boycott? Who loses? The government and Malaysia are the ones that will lose out,” Chen Kien Keong, chairman of the Tea Trade Association of Malaysia, told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

“The priority now is the economy... so few people also pay income tax,” he added.

Only 10 per cent of the working population in the country pays income tax.

Khoo Kah Jin, president of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Car Dealers and Credit Companies Association, said the call for a boycott of consumer goods produced by Chinese companies was “racist”.

“If they boycott Chinese brands, (the) Chinese can boycott Malay brands ― where does it end?” he told The Malaysian Insider.

“Politics is politics. This is all consumer items. How can you boycott? Leave politics aside,” Khoo added.

Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz was reported by national news agency Bernama last Wednesday as saying that the economy was forecast to grow between five and six per cent this year.

She added that resilient domestic demand would continue to be the “key driver of growth”, underpinned by sustained private sector expansion and backed by the public sector.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Hasan Malek said yesterday that Putrajaya did not approve of the boycott, but said that he could not prevent those who wished to do so.

Several pro-Umno bloggers and the Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM) recently called for consumers to boycott or at least buy goods sold by Chinese companies last, including products such as Massimo bread, Cap Sauh wheat flour and items from the Old Town White Coffee chain.

PPIM wrote on its website that such “DAP products” must be boycotted by Malaysians who love peace and harmony.

Pro-Umno blog theunspinners.blogspot.com called last Friday for a “Buy Malay first! Buy Chinese last!” campaign and listed several consumer products sold by Muslims and by “DAP allies”.

READ MORE HERE

(Vice.com) - We start off with restraint and a zero tolerance stance, but we won't keep up this position if the Malays in Malaysia are threatened. 

A couple of years ago, my friend moved out to Malaysia in search of a life where a winter wardrobe isn't a thing and you don't have to worry about stuff like moronic bro culture or seeing Kim K's face on television. What he found was a job as a bar manager in an establishment frequented by Malay punks covered in swastikas, wearing Combat 18 (a neo-Nazi terrorist organization) T-shirts and harping on about "Malay power."

Turns out they're a group of far-right nationalists who want to rid Malaysia of any non-ethnic Malays and stop immigration into the country. Which, although pretty backwards and reductive, isn't all that surprising in the current world climate. What was surprising, and kind of confusing, is that they identify themselves as neo-Nazis, are fond of sieg-heiling and listen to Nazi bands like Skrewdriver and Angry Aryan, yet definitely aren't Aryan themselves. And adopting a worldview that specifically discriminates against your race seems a very odd thing to do.     

I was told that one of the most popular Malay power bands is an act named Boot Axe, so I got in touch with band member Mr. Slay to find out why exactly a group of Malaysians are going through this bizarre, neo-Nazi identity crisis.  

VICE: Hi Slay. So what’s the deal with all this "Malay power" stuff then?

Slay: Malay power is important because we're concerned about keeping a pure Malay community all over the Malay Archipelago [the archipelago between Australia and Southeast Asia, believed by some to be the homeland of the Malay race]. I'm a second generation fighter for Malay power. The first generation, who founded the Malay power movement, have been less active recently. Malay power stems from a point in history—the 13th of May, 1969—where the Chinese and Malay communities fought each other. However, the punk and skinhead Malay power movement started in Kuala Lumpur in the early 90s.   

As far as I understand it, the idea that there's a "Malay race"—which is supposedly indigenous to the Malay Archipelago—was proposed by German scientist Johann Blumenbach. There's a lot of contention over whether or not such a race actually exists. For a start, Blumenbach’s theory hinged around the idea that there were only five different races in the world, which is clearly pretty flawed. I take it racism features pretty heavily in your ideology?
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.

OK. How exactly is Nazism culturally relevant to Malaysians? Malaysia isn’t a country that most people would associate with Hitler and his Third Reich buddies.
Malaysia is home to people from China, India, and foreign immigrants from Bangladesh, Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Burma. The government can't control the entry of immigrants and we get so many of them. 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 people in our society.

How has immigration affected you? 
Malay people have been affected in socio-economic terms. Ethnic Malays also fall prey to criminals who come from abroad and sell drugs and commit murder, rape, robbery, and so on. 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. We won't practice overt racism if the Malay race isn't compromised, but, if threatened, we will take action.

So you aren’t openly hostile to minorities at the moment?

We don’t like minorities in Malaysia if they can’t co-exist with the Malay race. If they are good, then we are good.

Read more at: http://www.vice.com/read/the-malaysian-nazis-fighting-for-a-pure-race 

(Cracked.com) - When we have a strong opinion on an issue and have researched and validated that opinion, it can be exceptionally difficult to see why anyone would have the opposite viewpoint. Here's the thing: The person who holds the opposite viewpoint is thinking the exact same thing. 

Political discourse in America has reached levels of douchebaggery previously only theorized about but never observed, like conversational dark matter. We're in a whole new world of hating people based solely on their opinions on a few key issues, and since this is unexplored territory, our conversations about politics are usually only a couple notches beyond the "hold your breath until the other person agrees with you and/or you die" technique.

But it's the 21st century. We have access to the entirety of collective human knowledge in our back pockets at all times. We have taken pictures of the deepest corners of space. We have three different goddamn TV shows about bidding on abandoned storage units. We as a society should have moved beyond figuratively (and literally, probably, knowing you assholes) shitting in our hands and throwing it at each other whenever someone brings up the deficit.