Kedah DAP Rejects Christopher “Zairil” Lim

The internal ruse in the Democratic Action Party (DAP) is coming to a deadlock as the leadership of the party refused to acknowledge their own mistakes. The steps taken to handle this particular problem did not amount to nothing rather than adding more confusion among the party members.

The real problem that DAP face is not hard to understand. It began when the party members and divisional leaders are sick and tired of the corrupt practices in the DAP CEC election. When this particular problem are not asses effectively, the DAP central committee appointed those who won controversially to be posted in a post that is supposed to be given to those who contested and won in the party election. The hatred for the leaders of DAP are spreading like wild fire.

This is what happens when Christopher Zairil Lim was appointed as the Chairman of Kedah DAP to replace Lee Guan Aik, because there are no reasonable explanations for this particular action. No one in the Kedah DAP knows Christopher and his capability as a leader in the party has not yet been proven. The appointment of Christopher is totally ridiculous.

Thus, DAP Kedah is not in turmoil as many of its members are furious at the central leadership.

However, as a party who uses a dictator style leadership, the DAP leaders not only refuse to entertain the feelings of their grass root members, but also they are saying that these people are irrational as the questioned the decision of DAP leaders.

Because they refuse to entertained the voice of their members, the DAP then establish two different committee to handle the problem of state leadership collectively. For the Kedah state, Tony Pua was in charge who are actually the liaison for the state of Perlis, Pulau Pinang and Perak.

This particular action, is seen as the Kedah DAP as a sign of betrayal from the Secretary General of the party, Lim Guan Eng. Lim Guan Eng was accused as purposely trying to run away from the problem that he has created. It is much worse as Guan Eng is seen to be meddling with the state administration.

Because of what has happened to his party, the Kedah State DAP Chariman Guan Aik, is determined to take the party problem to the Kedah ROS.

Guan Eng clearly miscalculates the result of his betrayal. His thought was that, the members or divisional leaders of DAP is his slave and will always agree on what has been decided by the central committee. He also thought that he can do anything he wants, just like the Emperor of China, when he ask his slaves to build the Great Wall Of China. This is the problem for a person who thinks he is divine and that’s why people call him a To’ Kong (shrine)

Lim Guan Eng strategy in lying to the Malays of Kedah by appointing Christopher Zairil as a Chariman seems to have backfired. The Malays felt cheated and Chinese feel betrayed.

Christopher Zairil is not Malay, and every Malay in Kedah knows this particular fact. Who can forget how Christopher Zairil’s mother robbed Tan Sri KhirJohari’s first wife of their property in the court of law. Christopher is only the step son of Tan Sri KhirJohari and did not have any Malay blood in him.

Now, this particular strategy is giving the DAP a big problem. Once again the DAP will have to face ROS in the state level.

It is clear here that Lim Guan Eng is not a smart good or wise leader. He is to arrogant and selfish as he frequently makes a bad decision and thinks that everyone is stupid.

We do not know when will Guan Eng understand that the only way to rectify all the problems that he has created is to admit his wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness to all Malaysians, better yet if he quits while he is at it.

PAS SEES CHINESE VOTES FLYING AWAY IF THE VOTERS CANNOT GET A DAY OFF

While Barisan Nasional (BN) continues to woo the Malays who had voted for PAS in the May 5 general election to change their mindset and hijrah or move to BN, PAS is struggling to sustain its dwindling influence among the Chinese voters.

Although the number of registered Chinese voters are only 1,842, PAS would not have sufficient numbers to retain the Sungai Limau state seat if half of that jump to BN or absent on the voting day.

The ‘territorial war’ between BN and PAS for Sungai Limau state seat heightens on the sixth day of campaign with both sides of the political divide intensifying their attacks and stepping up their defences.

In the poster war in Kampung Sedaka, PAS increases its presence by putting up more flags and banners, pulling out or pulling down BN’s flags and banners, replacing the sites with theirs.

And in the ‘war’ to win over the minds and hearts of the 27,222 voters, PAS is struggling to keep its voters ‘loyalty’ as it is losing the young voters as evident in its ceramahs and activities where these voters were not visible except few who are below voting age looking at their physique.

And PAS is struggling to keep its Chinese voters who were with them in the May 5 general election, despite its numbers is small.

Loh Choon Hong, 36, a shopkeeper at Sungai Limau Dalam town said he would not expect the Chinese voters to be 100 percent with the Islamic party this time around.

“From my view point mixing around here, the old Chinese voters seem to be inclined to vote for BN while only the young Chinese voters are still with PAS.

“This is because the young voters are exposed to internets where their minds are more on the national level rather than the local bread and butter issues.

“For me and other business people here, we just want peace and harmony where we can do our business and earn a living,” he said, while serving his clients ta his sundry shop.

The bulk of Chinese voters are in the town of Sungai Limau and Sungai Limau Dalam while the young Chinese voters work in towns in Gurun, Sungai Petani and Kulim.

DAP assemblyman for Kota Darul Aman, K. B. Loh, who campaigns for PAS in Sungai Limau town said the challenge now was to ensure the young Chinese voters take time off from their work to vote.

“Their number is quite substantial and if they cannot come back from their places in Gurun, Kulim and Sungai Petani, PAS majority may not be big.

“So it is our challenge to make sure they come back and the problem is transportation if they are given time off to vote.

“Many go to work by factory buses and these buses won’t be around to pick them up, send them to their polling stations and send them back to work.

“So we have to find ways to make it easier for them,” he said.

Monday is voting day and it is a working day and PAS finds it difficult in trying to get the maximum support from the Chinese as they are away at work.

Facing a decline in support from the young Malay voters and now, the Chinese voters, the party may see the Sungai Limau state seat slipping from its hold on Monday.

Issues are not much in existence for the Chinese voters in Sungai Limau which make it more difficult for PAS to sustain the support from the community.

The scenario is no longer BN struggling to win over voters but its PAS struggling hard, very hard to keep the seat from slipping away, considering the situation the Islamic party is in at present.

The PM Who Listens, Cares and Keeps Promises

The bigger democratic space we have in the Net has seen the insidious growth of negative commentaries, especially from those who choose to express opinions for the sheer pleasure of seeing their opinions published in social media platforms or online sites. Many rant from selfish or narcissistic inclinations that usually have malicious intent. How much of what we read is genuine and reliable? Poisoned by Opposition leaders and online sites, the perspectives and expressions of many are warped, untrue and distorted.

Realistically, we have a PM who listens, cares and walks the extra mile to keep promises. On August 23rd, he invited the rakyat (via Twitter) to share their views about their Budget. He promised to forward views shared to the Finance Ministry for further action. The main concerns expressed revolved around the high cost of living and the lack of affordable housing. His introduction in the Budget Speech last Friday certainly shows our PM is a man of honour who keeps his words. He said, “I hear the grouses of the rakyat who wish to own comfortable homes, especially those from low and middle income groups.”

Changes announced in the Budget such as the removal of sugar subsidy, implementation of GST and controls on excessive property speculation are intended to reduce fiscal deficit and prosper the nation to maintain economic growth to promote the well-being of citizens. Unfortunately, Opposition politicians, activists and many Malaysians have been harping on the wrong end of the stick and chose to focus on the withdrawal of sugar subsidy and the April 2015 implementation of GST without bothering to study the Budget in detail or appreciating the technical complexities of planning and implementing a national Budget that prioritizes the interests of the rakyat and the nation.

Why is there so much furore when there is a 17-month gap from now till April 2013 when the GST will be implemented? The proposed 6% rate is the lowest in the region (10% in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and 7% in Singapore and Thailand). Instead of focussing on this commendable rate, GST opposers have hurled unpleasant accusations and judgements at the PM by harping on their fallacious argument the GST will cause the lower income group to suffer. Actually, the GST automatically taxes the well-off segment of the population as they consume more. In this way, the lower income group will not be burdened. Obviously, the government has really taken the initiative to ensure the man in the street is not burdened by GST.

Unfortunately, Opposition leaders and activists have deliberately ignored the government’s decision not to impose GST on basic food items such as rice, salt, sugar, water and the first 200 units of electricity. Doesn’t this move show the government’s commitment to spare the poor from burdened by the GST? Why have many chosen NOT to elaborate on the Finance Ministry’s decision not to impose GST on passports, licenses, health services and travel? Not many know the RM300 one-off assistance to households of BRIM recipients. The compensatory move of lowering individual and corporate income tax aims to alleviate the middle income squeeze and to make GST more acceptable to the middle-income earners.

The rakyat has refused to acknowledge that the implementation of the GST will surely make consumers more prudent in their spending as the more we spend, the more we are taxed.

GST is certainly a more efficient tax system than the current framework as it can strengthen the fiscal position of the nation. Don’t forget the following:

• Tax rate for essential goods such as mentioned earlier and public transport will be set at zero
•The current sales tax, as well as the service tax of 6-10% will be repealed once the GST is implemented
•GST will be revenue neutral for the government because gains will be offset due to the termination of the sales and service tax
• Manufacturers are entitled to claim a rebate in the tax to the value that their suppliers added
only if proper and complete records are kept.
•GST will make it more difficult to evade taxes because complete records are necessary at each
stage of the taxation processes for businesses

Presently, only 6 million of the 29 million citizens pay taxes. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that not everyone declares their income for tax purposes. This trend is not only unhealthy but also economically unsustainable.

Through the GST, the government can broaden the tax base to narrow fiscal deficit as a tax is paid on each step of the process. Hence, it is a consumption tax that taxes people with consumption power based on their consumption. In this way, the government can boost government income and efficiency in government administration as the GST will widen revenue collection, ensure competition and reduce tax evasion with the hope for economic resilience and competitiveness.

Clearly, every Malaysian has to make an intelligent decision whether they want to help develop the country by moving in tandem with the Budget or to sit back, fold their arms and mock or deride the PM and his team who genuinely desire to strengthen economic resilience by accelerating the transformation of our economy so that promises are fulfilled for the benefit of this nation. They have mapped out their strategy and will be walking their talk as their mission has been outlined. What is your decision, Malaysian?

It is time for Sg Limau To CHANGE:

The Sg Limau constituency in the district of Yan, Kedah has long become the stronghold of PAS. Since the late Tan Sri Azizan Razak won the state seat in that particular constituency in 1995, it seems impenetrable by the likes of UMNO and its component parties.

For that long, the constituency has not seen any real change even though other parts of the Kedah state are booming in context of development. Sungai Limau is situated on the coast of the Malacca straits and have a big potential to be developed especially for the tourism industry. However, this did not happen and the people of Sungai Limau are used to be left behind by the state government. Maybe that is what being promoted by PAS since its establishment. Their only mission and vision is to secure a place in heaven while disregarding their reality in this this world.

At a glance, Sungai Limau is seen similar to any village in the state of Kelantan in context of the mentality of its people and its geographical landscape. There are a few religious schools and “pondok schools” which are not well kept. Their existence is to show evidence to the outside world that this constituency are not chasing worldly matters, as their main goal is to go to heaven as promised by their PAS leaders.

In contrast with Sungai Limau, only a few kilometres to the north or south of Sungai Limau, the Alor Setar and Sungai Petani town are situated. In both of these towns we can see development under way or has already been established by the Barisan Nasional government. There are proper roads connecting Sungai Limau and both of these two town, however, it seems like the constituency of Sungai Limau is cut off from any development.

When appointed as the Menteri Besar of Kedah, the late Tan Sri Azizan was said to have a grand vision of his constituency. Project such as the hydrocarbon hub that was planned to be built in the constituency are said to be able to rise the state income and give a lot of job opportunities to enhance the economy and development in Sungai Limau.

However, this particular plan did not came into effect as there are a lot of hurdles, including the lach of experience from the state government itself. Thus, Sungai Limau will be left behind and excluded from development.

The people of Sungai Limau seem to be content with their way of living and their everyday routine. Sadly the world is changing and humans need to adaat to these changes. The people of Sungai Limau cannot be left behind in gaining knowledge and development as it is the main reason Allah created human beings in the first place.

If it is true that the people of Sungai Limau wants to find a place in heaven, they need to follow Allah’s orders to seek knowledge and to cultivate what He has given us in this world.
It is a fact that the development in Malaysia can only be achieved through the Barisan Nasional and not PAS. PAS has a lot of time to develop Sungai Limau, but they did not do anything to achieve that, even during their stint as the state government.

It is true that Tan Sri Azizan has tried but without the experience and knowledge it not as easy as what they think.

Like adding insult to injury, PAS during their reign in Kedah refuse to help a lot of religious schools and also ignore the “pondok” school that they took pride off. It seems that PAS is really depending on the support of the people in Sungai Limau.

However, we applaud the late Tan Sri Azizan who would consult an UMNO leader in order to enhance the development in Kedah. Sadly, Allah loves him more and he were not able to fulfil his dream to develop Kedah and especially Sungai Limau.

Now the people of Sungai Limau are given the chance to make it right. How long does the people of Sungai Limau will stay as a backward as they have now.

Just imagine the job opportunities and business that can be make if UMNO is given the mandate to represent Sungai Limau. Also imagine the help that the federal government can give to the religious school to upgrade the quality of education and development if UMNO won the Sungai Limau constituency.

What we are all sure is that UMNO will bring a better life for the people of Sungai Limau. It is hoped for all of the voters of Sungai Limau to vote intelligently on the 4th of November because no one can change your fate except you. It is time for the people of Sungai Limau to have something in their constituency.

 

MALAYSIA MOVES TO 6th PLACE IN WORLD BANK DOING BUSINESS REPORT

Malaysia has been ranked the 6th easiest place in the world to conduct business, according to the World Bank's annual Doing Business report, up from 12th place last year.

At 6th position, Malaysia is in the same league as Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United States and Denmark.

In 2010, soon after Prime Minister Najib Razak assumed office, Malaysia was placed 23rd in the Doing Business rankings. The Prime Minister set a goal that Malaysia should reach the top ten by 2015, an objective that has now been met well ahead of schedule.

A Government spokesperson said:

Malaysia's significant rise in this year's World Bank rankings is testament to the Prime Minister's economic and government reform programmes, which have transformed Malaysia into one of the world's most business-friendly countries.
The World Bank measures the ease of doing business in a country by examining different aspects of the regulatory environment, such as the amount of time it takes to set up a new firm or the number of forms that need to be filled to export goods.

In the sub-categories of the Doing Business report, Malaysia was ranked 1st in the world for Getting Credit  and 4th forProtecting Investors. Malaysia came 5th in the category of ˜Trading Across Borders. Malaysia also made significant improvements in Starting a Business, ˜Dealing with Construction Permits, ˜Enforcing Contracts, Resolving Insolvency, and Getting Electricity.

PAS now using lucky draws to pull crowds

PAS, which is known to draw the crowds to its ceramah with its fiery speeches, is now resorting to lucky draws to pull in the numbers.

Lucky draws had been held at its events in Sedaka and Sungai Dedap, among others.

It is also relying on television stars to woo voters. Among the artistes on the party’s campaign trail in Sungai Limau were Abby Abadi and Leman Raja Lawak.

However, while PAS is trying to take a “modernised” approach, Umno leaders had gone into pondok schools and madrasah controlled by staunch PAS supporters.

Even Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir had been spotted wearing the kopiah and a white top a la PAS style during meet-the-people sessions on the campaign trail.

The state constituency of Sungai Limau, which has 27,222 voters, is a close-knit community despite differences in political ideology, with both Umno and PAS members counting their relatives among those in the rival camps.

The Sungai Limau by-election will be an acid test for PAS as the results would show if the state constituency is truly a PAS stronghold or was just the late incumbent Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak’s fort.

During the 1995 general election, PAS, which was almost wiped out then in Kedah, had managed to hold on to Bukit Raya (now known as Tokai) and Sala (now known as Sungai Limau) state constituen-cies.
Since then, the two seats had been regarded as PAS’ top two strongholds in the rice bowl state.

PAS candidate Mohd Azam Abdul Samat’s campaign tagline is Kekal (maintain) while Barisan Nasional candidate Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim’s battle cry is “SL (Sohaimi Lazim) for SL (Sungai Limau)”.
Their fate will be known on polling day on Nov 4.

Did You Know? DAP is owned by Lim Guan Eng’s parents?

The struggle behind the DAP is getting worse as the plot thickens many in the party feels that they are being tricked and fooled by their leaders. The party who takes pride as being better, smarter and more transparent than the Barisan Nasional, clearly do not have what it takes to compete with Barisan Nasional. Just imagine the DAP party election that only involves 2,000 people are marred with controversy and they have to do a re-election.

Even after the re-election, they still cannot show the level of transparency that BN have shown.
We can hear many members of the DAP from ordinary members to DAP leaders complaints about the level of corruption and dishonesty inside the party. The only one who are keeping their mouth shut and satisfied with the results are those who are elected in the CEC.

Complaints regarding the notice of meetings, the mysterious absence of delegates and also the special meeting just before the election that only involves selected people are among the issue raised by DAP members. However, the complaints that shocked the nation is that the election are done without following the party’s constitution.

The result of these complaints, DAP Taman Seri Sungai Pelek, Sepang Branch Chairman, Goh Swee Huat has filed a complaint to the ROS so that they can investigate the CEC election on the 29th of September 2013.

Swee Huat stated that, the complaint have to be made as many DAP members are not satisfied with the new CEC as the election was done in the National Congress not a special congress.
The question is, whether Lin Guan Eng as the secretary of the party, do not know the constitution of his own organization?

He admitted that he did not know how to count, and do not know how to use a computer and now he also do not know his own party constitution. What kind of leader is governing the DAP today?
There are only two explanations regarding what is happening in the DAP. Whether Lim Guan Eng is really stupid or he is really evil.

Maybe it is a combination of both, maybe Lim Guan Eng is stupid and bad that is why his action reflects his personality.

We believe that DAP leaders do have the ability to count but intentionally claim that there were problems with the calculation so that only a few selected favourable people would win. It’s not they do not know how to use a computer, but they are blaming computer problems to ensure that they can make their members believe their manipulation.

Not that they do not know their party constitution, but they are intentionally ignoring it so that the DAP will forever be in the clutches of the Lim Dynasty and do not have to follow the law or bow down to any of the authority.

In short, we can say that they are behaving as if the DAP is the sole propriety of Lim Guan Eng because he inherits it from his parents.

Thus, members and leaders of the DAP in all level have to understand and accept this fact. Regardless of what they know and what they feel about their party.

DAP members can complaint, resign, hopping to other party or even commit suicide but to hope that the DAP leaders would give them any attention or ask them to be fair to their own members is like hoping that the Israel would just leave the Palestinian at peace.

This is beacause the DAP mission is not to help the people. DAP are only fighting for the demise of the Malay Islamic government. That’s all, and nothing else.

While aiming to take down the government, the DAP also tries to accumulate wealth as much as they can through big companies who are given mega contracts by them. As the old saying goes “killing two birds with one stone”.

For that, and only that, the Lim Dynasty will try to maintain their power for as long as they can.

PAS Influence Waning Among Young Voters

Sungai Limau by-election campaign enters its fifth day today and the ground seems going well for Barisan Nasional (BN) as PAS loses grip of the voters, particularly the young ones.

PAS young voters and young supporters do not seem to stand out in the campaign trail as the party’s ceramahs held nightly have only been attended by a handful of old folks, hardly one hundred at each ceramah.

The ceramahs by both sides of the political divide began on Friday night as the weather has been fine with rainfalls only in the afternoon, not till late nights like Wednesday and Thursday.

And the last Friday and Saturday nights, PAS seemed to have failed to rally the few hundreds crowd at each ceramah, a stark contrast to the party’s normal ceramahs that attracted few hundreds if not by the thousands.
The youngsters, the normal PAS supporters who have been prevalent in controlling traffic every party ceramah and putting up banners and flags were absent in Sungai Limau, reflecting two things – PAS influence is fading among the youngsters and the party’s internal friction rears its ugly head.

Sungai Limau has been PAS bastion since 1995 and the late Datuk Seri Azizan Razak, who was one-term Mentri Besar, was well-loved by Sungai Limau’s 41,400-odd population of whom 27,222 would be casting their votes on Nov 4.

After his demise, the party had problems in choosing its candidates as the state PAS is split into three factions – Azizan’s fundamentalist faction, present party state commissioner Datuk Mahfuz Omar whose faction is close to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former exco member Datuk Phahrolrazi Zawawi who leads his own faction not aligned to any side.
Phahrolrazi had staged a rebellion against the late Azizan when he latter was Menteri Besar but failed and this had led to the break-away of Phahrolrazi’s supporters, who is said to have boycotted the current by-election.
Mahfuz, whose leadership is not well accepted by the fundamentalists in the state for his closeness with Anwar, has been in Kuala Lumpur to attend the the Parliament session and thus, his presence is not felt at all.
With such situation, the campaigning is left to the fundamentalists and Azizan’s group whose style is the traditionally holding ceramahs, completely detached from the normal kampong style of shaking hands and a small chat.

Lucky for this group, the party women wing – the Muslimah – is all out going house-to-house campaign wooing support which normally stars around 8am to afternoon.

But the concentration with this method of campaigning is the old folks who are known to be staunch PAS supporters who actually need no further ‘push’ mentally.

BN on the other hand seems to have penetrated the PAS bastion by focusing on the young voters who the past five days could be seen filling up BN’s operation centres in droves on their motorcycles.

They seem to be attracted to BN’s Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Dr Mahathir’s whose personality is somewhat alike the late Azizan – soft spoken, always smiling and looking straight in the eyes when talking person-to-person.

Talks among kampong folks are that ‘Mukhriz budak baik’ (Mukhriz is a good boy) who should be given a ‘peluang’ (chance).

Whether this will be translated into votes on Nov 4 is yet to be seen but the fact remains that BN has penetrated the PAS bastion through the young voters.

Kedah civil servants can punch in after casting their votes

Kedah civil servants who are voters in the Sungai Limau state by-election on Nov 4 are allowed to punch in after casting their votes.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir said they are given permission to start work later and urged private companies to give their staff similar flexibility.

"They (civil servants) do not have to worry of being hauled up as it is their responsibility as voters. This is the best way," he said when addressing the Puteri Umno election machinery on Sunday.

Mukhriz said it is improper for the Kedah government to declare Nov 4 as a public holiday as only 27,222 voters are involved in the by-election compared to the state's two million population.
PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar had suggested that the Kedah government declare polling day a public holiday to allow voters to cast their votes.

The Sungai Limau by-election on Nov 4 sees a straight fight between Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim from BN and Mohd Azam Abd Samat from PAS.

Is it necessary for women government servant to be given 1 month leave for the death of their husband?

The decision made by the Kelantan government to give a month of salary to women civil servant who suffered from the passing of their husbands received many mixed reaction from the people. Before this, for cases like this, only three days were given to civil servants.

Other than that, the effected civil servant is going to receive full pay, a special incentives to help them manage their financial matters after they have lost their husband. The longer leave period is for them to adapt emotionally in coping with their loss and changes that they have to make in their daily lives.
According to the government of Kelantan, this particular decision is in accordance with the Islamic teachings.

Some sees this particular decision is unrealistic as the government of Kelantan did not think of the productivity of the organization. Even if they have to face hardship in losing their husband, for the government to give the 30 day leave with pay is just unrealistic.

In the words of Mumtaz Md Nawi the Chairman of the State Women Development, Family and Welfare Committee, they have look into this matter, and the case of the death of the husband is rarely seen and basically it can happen only once to women civil servant, so that it crucial for us to take it as a case that needs to be handle properly.

The time frame is needed for someone to get up and get back on track is different from one another. Even a person’s character differs from anyone else. In cases like this, people in the office can be a good help for these widow to handle their grief. It is better for them to come back to work earlier and help them to take away their attention rather than facing the problem alone.
Basically, the 1 week time period is a better option to give them ample time to accept what had happened in their lives.

A longer leave will actually do more harm than good to these widows. It can lead to depression as they have no other activity that can help them to forget what has happened. It can also affect their quality of work as they have left their job for a very long time.

2 weeks is also seen as a reasonable amount of time for those who are affected and also for the organization. If they need more time, then they have to ask for their annual leave to be used with or without pay.

Because of that, in the written procedure, and also the reason of their leaders is important in handling this kind of issue. This is because when handling human emotions, we should not be too rigid as each and every individual is different.

The best action is to take a moderate approach for the widows and their department. Thus half from the 30 days period that has been decided by the government of Kelantan is seen as a more realistic approach that need to be take into consideration.

BN Has a Good Start with Mukriz’s Untarnished Image

Its ‘war’ and it is going to be ‘hell’ for PAS in defending the Sungai Limau state seat from Barisan Nasional (BN), a seat which the Islamic party has held for the past five terms, since 1995.
It is not that BN is getting stronger or BN is going to attack PAS stronghold like the Allied Forces landed in Normandy beach that ended the Second World War but it is worse than that – the party internal conflict.

The Sungai Limau by-election saw a straight fight between PAS candidate Mohd Azam Abd Samat and BN’s Dr Sohaimi Lazim, the former a 37-year old private religious school administrator and the latter a 52-year old educational academician.

Putting age aside, both are locals and both are known to the most of the 27,222 voters in the constituency where the landscape is flat with padi fields and the environment is quiet and serene.
With the quietness and stillness now broken into a hive of activities, not havoc though, the constituency is like a ‘war zone’ where one can see houses and huts covered with banners and flags of both rivals of the political divide.

The voters are also split into two – where the late Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak of PAS and Mentri Besar – won only 2,774 votes majority, considered as nothing great comparing the voters totaling 27,222, where in 2008 general election PAS gained a majority of 3,212 votes.
In reality, the political war is about winning the hearts and minds of the voters, who were of Islamic mindset and changes through times where the reality of life sets in – daily bread and butter issues in accordance to the rising cost of living.

PAS influence have dwindled although the party has held the constituency for the last five terms given the majority the late Azizan gained was not high and BN’s concept of religion and economy goes hand-in-hand.

But that is not exactly what PAS fear most in Sungai Limau, it is the internal conflict between three groups that may dampened or probably bring down the party on polling day fixed on Nov 4.
Vengeance and backstabbing because of power had led the former PAS state government to fall and this time around the same thing will drag PAS down.

The power struggle is between PAS state commissioner Datuk Mahfuz Omar, Datuk Phahrori and the late Azizan’s followers, the latter who wanted Aziza’s son to be the candidate but was pushed aside.
Despite the appearances of the whole party leadership headed by president Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang this morning at the nomination centre, the undercurrent friction still exist and will continue to undermind the party campaign.

For BN, today’s show of force is considered as miraculous as all the leaders present seemed sincere and honest, especially when the party had just concluded its poll where Mentri Besar Mukhriz Dr Mahathir finished just a breath away to unseat incumbent vice-president Datuk Deri Hishammuddin Hussein.

Wanita chief Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil were here the last two days planning the wooing of voters strategy, the job she is famed with as proven by the success in Kuala Besut by-election in Terengganu.

As usual, Wanita Umno’s job is the most tedious and most important as Shahrizat will head the ‘kepala 10’ team where each team leader is responsible for every 10 voters – daily monitoring of where the voters’ inclinations go.

It maybe a uphill task for BN given the voters’ profile and background but with the new Mentri Besar datuk Mukhriz Dr Mahathir’s leadership as director of operation, the work may get simpler and easier.

Mukhriz’s untarnished image and credibility may be a good start for BN in the next 12 days campaign trail.

Sungai Limau is the second by-election since the conclusion of the May 5 general election where the first by-election was held in Kuala Besut, Terengganu after BN’s Dr A Rahman Mokhtar died on June 26.

BN succeeded in retaining the seat in a hot battle.

SUARAM: The Whining Human Rights Watch-Dog?

SUARAM, has just sent a ‘whining’ letter to the American President to refute the President’s views on Malaysia as a global model for ‘diversity, tolerance and progress’.  

SUARAM insisted in the letter that there are various defects and shortcomings under the leadership of  Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that defy the President’s views.  SUARAM had listed among others, the history of racism, religious extremism, corruption, electoral fraud and various other criminal activities as the reasons for Malaysia not deserving such acknowledgment.

SUARAM has also claimed that the government has committed serious human rights abuses for selectively deployed repressive legislation such as the Sedition Act 1948, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Penal Code in order to suppress protests against the election result by human rights defenders, opposition leaders and Malaysians from various religions. 

To add to that, SUARAM had also pointed out that the government has been ‘demonizing the non-Malays’ (the Chinese) for voting the Oppositions.  And of course, ‘Zahid’s shoot to kill’ statement was also mentioned in the ‘whining letter’. 

The list could at any time be swapped with the Opposition’s attack points as it does not reflect a genuine effort to protect human rights.  This, is nothing to be surprised of because majority of SUARAM’s leaders are also holding positions in the Opposition party. 

Malaysians believe that President Obama will take SUARAM’s letter as nothing more than a whining from a spoilt brat who is way passed tantrums.  BERSIH’s Ambiga once tried the same trick, pulling the shirt of an Australian’s MP whining with her best pitiful look for the Mat Salleh to come and spank our Prime Minister for not letting the Opposition wins the election. 

Surely, the Mat Salleh of Australia knows better than to listen to the crap.  The fact that the government had barely won the election had, in itself, proven that Malaysia is as democratic as any democratic country could be. 

The fact is that, SUARAM is writing to the America on behalf of the ungrateful citizens of Malaysia who have had everything but insist that they have nothing.  

Ever since Independence, the only life known to Malaysians is that it is the Chinese who controls the economy.  Chinese discriminating other races in all aspects of economic activities has since become a part of life, which is not healthy.  The Chinese becomes more and more arrogant and oppressing, while other races become more and more angry at them.  All the emotions had led to May 13 1969 racial riot and finally to the bumi-rights policy.

So far, the bumi-rights policy has been proven to be the most effective way to tackle the problem of economic disparity among races.  The bumiputeras no longer angry while the Chinese can continue to make money. 

It is interesting to note that the spokesperson for SUARAM and the leader of BERSIH are Indians, not Chinese.  Obviously, they don’t give much thought that their own race is also being discriminated by the Chinese in the private sectors as much as in the Chinese dominated opposition party, DAP. 

Just in case President Obama didn’t know, DAP is now going through so much pressure for being accused by its own members to deliberately cheated and manipulated their party election in such a way, so that the Indian representatives were denied of their rights to vote.  Not to mention that the party actually appointed a Chinese to represent the Malays in the party.   That is the Opposition for you Mr. Obama, the same one crying of discrimination, racism and injustice against the government.     

Yes, ‘race’ is a factor of everything in Malaysia today as we can see through the election result where 97% of the Chinese rejected the ruling party.  Malaysia has always been very tolerant in giving all races a space in the cabinet so that their voice would be heard.  The ruling party which is made of numbers of parties to represent every race and tribe has proven to be the best formula in maintaining stability and peace.  

But the Chinese wants more power.  Controlling the economy is not enough.  They want to conquer everything.  They cannot do that if the government keeps protecting and helping the less fortunate, the bumiputeras or the original settlers, in the long struggling effort to close the economic gap.  So the Chinese rejected the ruling party for it, thus, lost their voice in the government. 

Apparently, the government has had enough with them.  It has come to the point of either giving in to that ‘one race’ or maintaining the stability of the country.  Still, as a responsible government and in the spirit of tolerance, the cabinet posts were reserved for the race, which was rejected nonetheless.  

Now, the Chinese are using SUARAM/Oppositions to complain to America that they are being demonized.  For Mr. Obama’s information, Malaysia’s authority is currently having a hard time curbing the act of insulting, provoking, mocking and ridiculing the Malays and Islam by the Chinese youngsters through their social media networks.  It is not hard to see that it is the same display of arrogance of May 13 1969 all over again. 

The Oppositions have been working very hard to paint ugly pictures on Malaysia, with the help from SUARAM of course.  For that, they would invite or provide foreign media with all sorts of news and pictures of demonstrations and peaceful rallies they held.  So, there is no doubt that their voices are heard around the globe and yet none of them are being arrested. 

Therefore, we believe Mr. Obama would be asking, what suppression or oppression is SUARAM talking about?

The fact that SUARAM had been caught lying and slandering the government and the Prime Minister with all sorts of stories is still alive and kicking and free to whine to the power that be, is, in itself, a statement of how tolerant Malaysian government is.  With that, comes ‘diversity and progress’ which fits perfectly with Mr. Obama’s views on the country. 

In conclusion, SUARAM is no human rights watchdog, it is just another one of the Oppositions’ dog.