MCA : Road To Presidency Is Long And Winding For Liow

The battle for MCA leadership is getting intense with allegation of money changing hands in return for votes and allegiance changes accordingly to the contestants’ whims and fancies or to their benefits.

There are claims that some 120 party division chairmen around the country have been receiving some sort of allowances to ensure the divisions’ delegates allegiance and votes for those who pay while ghost writers have also been involved in being paid to promote certain individuals.

At present three candidates have already confirmed their candidacies while outgoing president Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek is still keeping his intention close to his heart, who observers said he might just enter the fray on the 11^th hour to block contender Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai’s chance of victory.
The three are Liow, Datuk Ong Tee Keat and Gan Peng Sieu.

Liow is said to have presently command some 1,000 voters of the 2,385 delegates to the party poll on Dec 21 and he is working hard to influence some 600 to 700 more delegates to ensure he gets the post.

Observers said former president Ong does not seem to fair good as he seems to be able to only woo some 200 delegates who still sympathise with him while Gan is said to have some 900 delegates with him.
Although Gan had rubbished allegations that he is Chua’s proxy, it is understood that delegates have already ‘seen through the lines who Gan is’ but this does not deter them from supporting him as a leader.

Observers said Gan on the other hand may go for deputy president against Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong is Chua decides to join the number one battle at the last minute.

If such things happen, then the battle will see Ong being squashed leaving the arena for two ‘big boys’ Chua and Liow while for deputy will be Chua’s purported boy Gan against Liow’s running mate Wee.
It is said that depending on the result of the contest, if Chua wins, he may step down mid-term and hand over the presidency to Gan, if Gan wins number two.

“It’s a game of power and keeping control of the party but still, the most important thing is whether MCA can rally the Chinese community to support Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Right now, Malaysians know MCA does not have support from the community and as long as MCA keeps busy fighting for power and leadership control, the party can never influence the community to support BN.
“The party leaders need to get real…feel the pulse of the community and seek their wishes and needs…then try fulfilling them.

“If the party leaders, whoever they may be, fail to do this, then they will end up like Gerakan in the next general election,” said an observer.

DAP : Legal, Illegal or Legally Incompetent?

Is it going to be a Waterloo for some Penang DAP stalwarts come December 1st when Penang DAP members vote at their state polls? Clearly, it will be a showdown of many sorts because many issues are likely to make the party implode.

Is the December 1st 2013 event legal? According to Section 15(6) of DAP constitution, the CEC must set the dates for the conventions. Until now, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) has yet to acknowledge and recognize the new central executive committee (CEC) elected onSeptember 29th. If so, all state-level conventions would be deemed illegal. Worse still, some sacked members had voted in the party re-election and are rightly “illegal delegates” because DAP never issued member reinstatement letters and they should not have voted. Legal?

Even though the RoS has given the CEC to submit a report within 60 days from the date of the election on September 29th 2013, it is shocking to learn that DAP Secretary-general Lim Guan has submitted a mere ‘three-page’ report. After all the hue and cry over the December 2012 disastrous CEC election (which triggered a string of complaints from DAP members leading to the RoS declaration that it would not recognize the results and ordered re-elections or risk it being de-registered), shouldn’t LGE have diligently submitted a flawless report. What then is the real reason for such a flippant report?

What is more damning is news that DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has yet to send all documents to the Registrar of Societies (RoS), including the name lists of party members who attended its central executive committee (CEC) re-election on Sept 29. Does it appear as though it is a deliberate move to delay RoS investigations into legalizing the CEC? If so, the natural outcome would be for RoS to deregister DAP for fresh elections to be held. If so, it would possibly result in election of candidates favored by the ‘masters’ rather than members.

If that were not the case, it would clearly be a case of legal incompetency. The position of Secretary-General of any political party requires quick action, commitment and pro-active deliberation and promptness in decision-making. Failure to meet expectations should compel one to step down for he would have led the party down.

Rumblings from the ground indicate a deep divide between LGE’s supporters and Penang DAP members – a clear indication that all is NOT well on the Penang front. Recent reports indicate how one particular leader has insulted a high-ranking civil servant publicly – a definite blot of red ink in the DAP report card.

On December 1st, 2013, 1112 delegates in Penang will vote for the new DAP leadership in Penang. Will they rise to the occasion and give Penang a new breath of life by voting in WORTH candidates and not those considered of worth to a Tokong? Over to you, Penang DAP members. Do it right, for Penang!

By Datuk Huan Cheng Guan

Husam’s Victory Prolongs Kelantan Internal Feud

Kelantan state government is looking at a very long internal feud now that the ‘rebel leader’ Datuk Husam Musa had retained his vice-presidency and Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Amar Nik Abdullah failed to grab the deputy presidency post from incumbent Mohamed Sabu.

The ‘bitter’ Husam is not expected to slow down on his onslaught pinpointing weaknesses in the state led by Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob, who deputy failed to unseat Mat Sabu in the just concluded party election.

Husam’s animosity with Ahmad began immediately after the May 5 general election when Ahmad did not pick Husam in the state exco line-up, cutting off his influence and anger his followers.
Before the state assembly begun in June, Husam’s followers had demonstrated at the State Secretariat demanding for Husam to be appointed as exco but Ahmad ignored the call.

In relation to the Kelantan debacle, PAS has been ‘living’ with two factions – liberals and fundamentalists – where the liberals have been trying to ‘worm’ into the leadership and move the party closer to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR and DAP.

Being closely associated with PKR supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the liberals had plenty of leeways in the ties in the run-up to the general election where even the party spiritual chief Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat had been seen as favouring whatever they did.

And Husam was seen as Nik Aziz’s ‘blue-eye boy’ where when the former was Mentri Besar, Husam was not just an exco but whatever he did was ‘sanctioned’ by Nik Aziz – from mooting out development projects to strengthening the ties with partners in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

However, luck was not with him when Nik Aziz stepped down from Mentri Besar post and he is left to fend himself against the fundamentalists leadership in the state who obviously have many things against his days with Nik Aziz.
With the party election concluded and Husam is in the top party heiracrhy, the internal feud does not see an end as Husam is expected to take the ‘bull by the horns’ given that Nik Amar lost to unseat the liberal Mat Sabu.

Knowing that he has the backing of party members since the party delegates had retained him in the vice-presidency, Husam sees no reason to stop ‘knocking’ the fundamentalists so that he still has his way to further strengthen ties or in other words, make Kelantan toe the way of Pakatan Rakyat.
Kelantan has been trying to distance from the pact as the ruling fundamentalists have been trying to work closely with Barisan Nasional (BN) to develop the state as well as finding a way to implement the Hudud.

Husam’s liberal colleagues in PAS have been trying to stop the state leadership from working together with BN and delay the implementation of Hudud as desired by partners DAP while PKR is quiet about it.

Even now, Kelantan leadership has already extent their hands to BN federal leaders for meeting to work on development and Islamic issues, which worry the liberals in the party.
If the meeting occurs, then Husam and his liberals colleagues have got a big problem in their hands which worry Anwar and DAP.

And for Husam and Mat Sabu and all the liberals in the party is that if the relationship between Kelantan PAS and BN particularly Umno works, then their aim to see PAS as the Malays rallying point for Pakatan Rakyat will be just a dream.

Pakatan Finally Admits That Running An Election Is Not As Easy As They Think.

Pro-Opposition portal, the Malaysian Insider today posted an article regarding the recent PAS’s Muktamar titled 5 Things that should be learned from the PAS Muktamar.

PAS Muktamar or party election has already been a hot topic for these past few weeks. The election was full of chaos and mess especially during the Vice President votes are being tallied. Many of the PAS delegates were unhappy with the way the election was handled.

To add salt to injury, a rock concert was organized even though before this PAS were one of the parties who banned rock concerts especially if it involves international artist. Many of their own supporters are baffled how the concert were permitted in PAS’s stage.

However, these are not the lessons that the Malaysian Insider meant. 5 lesson that was said by the Malaysian Insider was 1. The support shown by the enemy (Utusan Malaysia) towards pro-Ulama’ candidates, 2. To avoid any confrontation within the party, 3. Respect among candidates and supporters in the party elections and avoid any acts especially from the Ulama’ supporters, 4. Learn from Mazlan Aliman who has worked hard to gain the confidence of the people in issues such as the FELDA dispute, 5. Conducting an election is not an easy task.

Malaysian Insider clearly supports the victory of Anwarinas without trying to hide their prejudice against the Ulama of PAS. Even Mazlan Aliman was anointed as the hero as he managed to create an issue out of thin air.

It seems that what is important for Pakatan Rakyat is to create issue and not to resolve issue for the people of Malaysia.

The Malaysian Insider article shows that the external influence in PAS is arranging who will win and who will lose and it shows that this PAS election is the dirtiest the party has ever seen in their history.

This actually proves that the vote count which was one of the longest vote counts in PAS election was full of controversy. Mat Sabu and Husam who was caught breaching the vote counting room in the middle of the night have also raised many questions. The early announcement which is different from the official results makes the people of Malaysia wonder the PAS’s integrity. Imagine, they have all this problem with only 1,086 ballot tickets to be counted.

However, The Malaysian Insider potrayed it as something that is not that important and invite the Pakatan Rakyat to learn a lesson from this particular foray. The portal double standard position can be seen clearly as they were very critical of SPR who had done the job 1000 times better than PAS in counting the votes of 13.3 million ballot tickets.

If the Malaysian Insider is really a portal that is truly just and independent, then it is wise for them to analyse what actually happened in the DAP’s CEC and not just the PAS election. It is much better if they would learn from the PKR election which we saw Zaid Ibrahim resigned from the particular party because there are more than a 100 complaints about vote manipulation.

However, the Malaysian Insider is not an impartial news portal. It might as well maybe one of the hidden hands that regulate the PAS election. Thus, it is not shocking to see that only 10 out of 27 positions was won by the Ulama’. We have to exclude one of the 10 Ulama as it is difficult to determine that Hadi Awang is among the Ulama’ or Anwarinas.

Even though the Malaysian Insider tries to show that all of this is a small and usual matter in a political party election, the portal has to accept that arranging an election is not something easy.
Thus, indirectly it shows that SPR is a better electoral body which is clean, efficient and credible compared to the Pakatan Rakyat.

Angola 'Bans Islam', Destroy Mosques : OIC should cut ties with them.

A number of news outlets have reported that Angola has "banned" Islam and started to dismantle mosques in a bold effort to stem the spread of Muslim extremism.

Weekly French-language Moroccan newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune published an article on Friday sourcing "several" Angolan officials, including the Southwest African nation's minister of culture, Rosa Cruz, who reportedly offered the following remarks, which have been translated from French: "The process of legalization of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, their mosques would be closed until further notice."

The media reports have not described why exactly Islam apparently faces a need to be legalized despite its presence in the country for many years.

OnIslam.net reports that the African economic news agency Agence Ecofin wrote that Cruz made the statement at an appearance last week before the 6th Commission of the National Assembly. The website goes on to note that, "According to several Angolan newspapers, Angola has become the first country in the world to ban Islam and Muslims, taking first measures by destroying mosques in the country."


Even Angola President José Eduardo dos Santos has weighed in on the controversy, as he was quoted in Nigeria's Osun Defender newspaper on Sunday as saying, "This is the final end of Islamic influence in our country," according to the OnIslam.net report.

The reported comments by Cruz and Santos echo the stance of the governor of the country's Luanda province, Bento Francisco Bento, who reportedly maintains "that radical Muslims were not welcome in Angola and that the government was not ready to legalize the presence of mosques in the country," according to a La Nouvelle Tribune summary of Bento's take on the issue.

In a physical extension of the officials' sentiments about Islam's place in Angola, La Nouvelle Tribune said that a minaret of an Angolan mosque was dismantled last October, and that the city of Zango "has gone further by destroying the only mosque in the city."

The emerging reports about Angola "banning" Islam and dismantling mosques point to the  anti-Islam sentiments held by many in the nation's citizens, but they could not immediately be independently verified by International Business Times.

Angola is a majority-Christian nation of about 16 million people, an estimated 55 percent of whom are Catholic, 25 percent of whom belong to African Christian denominations, 10 percent of whom follow major Protestant traditions, 5 percent of whom belong to Brazilian Evangelical churches and where only between 80,000 and 90,000 people are Muslim, according to the U.S. State Department.

Mat Sabu’s Victory Is Not Total, Hands Still Tied

As the dust settles down and PAS delegates leave Shah Alam, the Islamist party’s future still a big question – will it play second fiddle in the opposition pact of Pakatan Rakyat (PR ) or distance itself and only co-operate on issues of mutual interests.

The victory of Mohamed Sabu or Mat Sabu as the party deputy president on Friday poll reflected the members’ choice to go all out with DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to capture Putrajaya, regardless of whether the Islamic state and Hudud laws agenda are sidelined or forgotten.

Despite the call by the party’s Ulamak Council and the resolution passed and adopted to review the party’s political co-operation in the opposition pact and delegates spoke of being treated as ‘step children in Penang” during the debate session, the fact remains in that the review will be done with everything in favour to strengthen the ties.

PAS leadership poll on Friday was a tell-tale sign that the fundamentalists faction has lost its internal war and its attempt to make a comeback was only half victory as it only got information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man in one of the three vice-president posts.

Even the 18 central committee members elected are split equally between the ulamaks and liberals which further dampens the ulamaks’ faction to put on track the party’s objectives and struggles.

And party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang did not commit in anyway to support the fundamentalists in his policy speech where he ‘played safe’ by not touching on internal friction and the problems within the opposition pact or about the ties in PR.

The fundamentalists with the backing of the Ulamak Council had tried to distance itself from the parties in PR as they found out the party is slowly moving far from its original objectives and its approach has changed from educating the public about Islam to fighting human rights issues.

Many party delegates who voted and members who attended the party 59^th general assembly as observers said Mat Sabu was chosen due to his availability and his readiness to go to the forefront of the battle whenever needed and not as assumed by outsiders that the liberals aligned to PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is now in control of the party.

One of the delegates from Terengganu said Mat Sabu was chosen because he could rally the crowd when needed, he could face the police when needed and he was also willing to go to jail if need be.
“He is versatile and available as he does not hold any government post or an assemblyman or MP.
“And he can rally crowd to PAS ceramahs or events.

“Compared to Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar, despite being an ulamak and intellectual and refined, we cannot allow him to go down and lead a rally or face the police or risk being put in lock-ups a night or two.
“And party members and delegates know very well that Mat Sabu cannot make decision as deputy president nor can he dictate any decision.

“It (the decision) need to be tabled at the central committee and then referred to Dewan Ulamak (Ulamak Council) for endorsement before implementation.

“So to me and the delegates as well as party members, the question of liberals steering the party does not arise because of the check and balance.

“It is the practical thing to have Mat Sabu to be in the forefront with his brashness and guts,” he said.
How far the thoughts to the truth is not known but one thing for sure, Mat Sabu’s victory is obviously not total or wholesome because the party highest policy body which is the central committee still needs endorsements from the Ulamak Council for implementations of any decision.

In short, Mat Sabu’s hands are still tied despite having Datuk Husam Musa and Salehuddin Ayub in the vice-president posts to back him up.

And in such a situation, Anwar who is watching the party’s development and those close to him in PAS cannot laugh loud because the fundamentalists are still at the ‘driving wheel’.

And the delegates and observers left Shah Alam with a clear mind that the party is still in the hands of ulamaks.

MCA polls: Ong Tee Keat to contest for president's post

Former MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has announced his candidacy for the top post in the party polls on Dec 21.

Speaking at a press conference here Monday, Ong said he had learnt from his weakness and was a new man, adding that he wanted to bring the party closer to the people.

Offering his services to the party, he said his experience as an MP since 1989 and ability to interact warmly with the people would help foster closer ties and regain their confidence.

"I will do what I can to bring the party closer to the people, regardless of race," he said.
Ong acknowledged that he has been called "lone ranger" but pointed out that he would not have survived as an MP if he truly had been a lone ranger.

"Whether it is true or not, I will leave it up to the wisdom of party members and the people.
"I humbly and sincerely seek the support of the people and the party," he added.

Ong was previously elected as MCA president in October, 2008, and remained in the post until March, 2010 when he was ousted by current president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

He was also the Pandan MP for two terms from 2004, and Transport Minister from 2008 to 2010. Ong did not contest in the 13th general election in May.

THE REALISATION OF DAP PRUNING OPERATION

The human being is in the most literal sense a political animal, not merely a gregarious animal but an animal which can individuate itself only in the midst of society. As the ideas of ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas. The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large as the object of the superior man is truth.

“ For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.”   -Psalm 5:9

The Realization of Pruning Operation which has a specific goals which no other than to let Lim Dynasty reigning power in DAP forever in other word best describe as giving an absolute power and immunity to Lim Guan Eng. He has almost finalised his strategy to allocate his army all over the country. As a politician, he needs to have the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen. Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.

In Perak, after the fallen of infamous cousin Nga and Ngeh, the famous sycophants of Perak, Kula and Thomas Wu will be the main person in Perak. Both are die hard humble servant and ‘yes’ man   to Lim Dynasty. Both can do anything without saying no to all directives given by Lim Dynasty. Perak is secure.

After the long battle and reward for his true sacrifice to Lim Dynasty as their humble servant, finally Tony Pua will lead Selangor. Teng Chang Kim was not there anymore and has no say about this. Selangor is secure.

As current chaos related to Zairil winning in the recent CEC, which contribute potential to unnecessary cleavage in DAP and to honour the promises made to Zairil on leading Kedah which only be a temporary perch for him. He will be replace by KP Teoh later. Kedah is secure.

Another humble servant of Lim Dynasty, which no other than Anthony Loke, will lead Negeri Sembilan. This is the reward he gets after his dying effort together with his duo Tony Pua to manipulate CEC election which seen as a starting grid to rationalised Pruning Operation.

Goh Liong Sang will be eliminated and Lim Guan Eng nominated Lai Keun Ban, MP Kota Laksamana to lead Malacca. The Old Lim opposed this nomination. He has a bad history related to moral issue involving women. To honour his father sacrifices upon him, Lim Guan Eng nominated Khoo Poay Tiong which is currently MP Air Keruh to lead Malacca. Malacca is secure.

The next chapter will revealed more about sacrifices made and rewards received for supporting Lim Dynasty agenda to conquer and reign power in DAP. Famous English quote saying…..” there is no such things as free lunch”. A person must earn money in order to be able to live his life, but he must by no means live his life for the purpose of making money.

“ A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman thinks of the next generation.”- James Freeman Clarke

Peter Chan (Dap Member)

The Pathological Serial Liar Unveiled

When a lie is spun to spin the minds of Malaysians, sometimes, the spinning can spin right back at the source bringing more damage than was intended. Whether it was 40 000 Bangladeshis, Myanmarese, Cambodians or any other nationality, in a Press Statement on May 2^nd, 2013, (http://tinyurl.com/huan55).Anwar DID say “at least 40,500 dubious individuals have and are still entering via this method of chartered flights via KLIA.  This does not include foreign nationals who are being moved through land routes and seaports or other airport facilities such as LCCT.”

The fact remains that Anwar NEVER provided evidence of how he derived the figures of 40 500 even though he claimed there was “a sudden surge in the arrival of dubious individuals on chartered flights since April 25th. These are foreign nationals as well as Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak who have been flown in to Peninsula Malaysia.”

Today (http://tinyurl.com/huan56), Anwar said, "Yes, we said there were suspicious voters, but we never attach the number 40,000.” He went on to argue that the number 40,000 was a fictional specification perpetuated by UMNO bloggers.

However, his May 2^{nd 2013} allegations about 40 500 dubious individuals have been published not only in local websites but also in international news portals such as the following:-

Straits Times Singapore         : http://tinyurl.com/huan57

Telegraph, UK                    : http://tinyurl.com/huan58

Wall Street Journal               : http://tinyurl.com/huan59

China Post                            : http://tinyurl.com/huan60

The Economist                       : http://tinyurl.com/huan61

Korean Press                         : http://tinyurl.com/huan62

France 24                            : http://tinyurl.com/huan63

Who is the liar?

In FMT Today (http://tinyurl.com/huan64), Anwar Ibrahim said after the advanced voting process, he said with proof that foreign nationals from India, Bangladesh, Philippines and Indonesia were allowed to vote.

Where is the evidence?

Before GE 13, Anwar said “the number of these flights, as many as 16 per day from East Malaysia primarily departing from Kuching and Kota Kinabalu as well as Sandakan, Miri and Sibu, with some flights using jumbo jets. The number of charter flights per day is more than even the number of charter flights during the Haj season.”

Where is the evidence?

He claimed that based on his calculations, as many as 4,500 people are being transported via the in-bound flights into KLIA each day. This has been taking place each day with the exception of May 1st, since April 25th.

Where is the evidence?

Anwar claimed that the points of arrival of these flights have been KLIA Sepang as well as Bayan Lepas and Senai. He also claimed he had information that military aircraft (C130 Hercules) are being used to bring in these phantom voters to land in smaller airports such as BatuBerendam and Ipoh.

Where is the evidence?

Anwar has claimed that he had credible documentary evidence that these groups of foreign nationals are being transported from the airports to various sequestration points within Selangor/Kuala Lumpur and the other affected states using transport provided by various government agencies as well as charted bus operators.

Where is the evidence?

Before GE 13, Anwar stated his belief that Election Commission in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Office, and the involvement of a number of other agencies are involved in this operation.

Where is the evidence?

Clearly, Anwar is trying to befuddle Malaysians by splitting hairs over the real issue which is NOT about 40 000 Bangladeshis but HIS allegation that there were 40 000 dubious individuals. Somewhere along the line BEFORE the Budget speech, someone must have referred to 40 000 Bangladeshis. If not, why would High Commissioner to Malaysia A.K.M. AtiqurRahman issue a statement saying:

“I want to clarify that it is absurd that 40,000 Bangladeshis had come to Malaysia within a week to vote. This was claimed by some in the print and online media.

“Our office believes that Malaysian and Bangladeshi laws will not allow nor approve of it.”

Atiqur added that the “propaganda” of Bangladeshis voting in Malaysia was a misrepresentation of facts.

Anwar owes it to Malaysians to explain and back up his allegations with solid evidence lest we deduce

that a pathological serial liar is in our midst for he has cried wolf so many times in the past (such as the infamous BN crossover, which never was).

If he cannot or will not, then he should step as PKR President, Pakatan Rakyat Leader and vacate his parliamentary seat. Anyone who persistently misleads Malaysians in such a way that strife, fear, anger, and disunity are spread via deceit does not have moral ground for public office!

Video : http://tinyurl.com/huan65

By DatukHuan Cheng Guan

Drama before Pas Muktamar : Penang PAS threatens pullout from gov't posts

Penang PAS has protested the state government’s “unreasonable interference” in the administration of Islamic affairs, as well as the appointment of the party’s representatives to state agencies and village and security development committees (JKKK).

If this persists, said state deputy commissioner Fauzi Yusof (left), PAS will review its position in Pakatan Rakyat.

It also stands ready to pull its representatives out of state or local council posts, if the six demands it issued today are ignored.

At a press conference in Seberang Jaya, Fauzi said all the demands come from the grassroots and are directed at the state excos.

"The grassroots want PAS to be more firm with its Pakatan allies so that (the party is) given an appropriate role and position (in balancing interests within) the state government," said Fauzi.

"We are concerned that the state government’s unreasonable interference in the Penang Islamic Affairs Council (Maipp) will lead to overlapping of power. In turn, this will disrupt the smooth running of the administration.”

Fauzi claimed that there has not been a Pakatan Rakyat council meeting in the state following the May 5 general election, when the coalition was returned to power.

PAS, he said, is making its demands public because the state government has ignored all the letters the party has sent.

Fauzi demanded more say for PAS in the administration and inclusion in discussions related to state policies before these are implemented.

He said such discussions must include PAS as an organisation, not via personal appointments or selection.
"Our grassroots do not want the party to be seen as puppets of the Pakatan allies," Fauzi said.

"Every appointment that involves the PAS quota must be discussed with us and agreed to by us.
Otherwise we will not recognise the appointments and will act against the individuals concerned, who we will deem to be trying to marginalise us.”
Asked if PAS feels that PKR is trying to become more influential in Islamic affairs, he said: "We don't want things to come to that."

'Violation of Pakatan spirit'

Penang PAS commissioner Salleh Man, the party's sole assemblyperson - for Permatang Pasir - was absent from the press conference.

Fauzi went on to demand that Salleh (left) should be given full powers without interference to appoint Maipp officers, chairpersons, and the board of directors in any state agency under Maipp.

"We understand there is unreasonable interference from the state exco in selecting Maipp members for the new session," he said.

"If this is true, it is against the ethics and spirit of Pakatan. This is regrettable.”
Fauzi said PAS wants the number of local councillors for the party's representatives to be increased from two to four.

It also wants "full powers" to choose and appoint JKKK members in constituencies where the party has previously contested - two parliamentary and six state seats - in GE13.

"We've learnt that JKKK members in these areas were directly appointed without discussion with, or agreement from, PAS leaders there," Fauzi claimed.

“All appointments under the party's quota for members of boards of directors in state agencies were made without PAS' agreement."

Although the party won only one seat in the last state polls, it should not be deemed as having no influence in Penang, he noted

"We gave our support to our allies .... In areas like Kepala Batas, we managed to reduce the majority although the BN won," he said, adding that the party will continue providing checks and balances.

A Tale of Two Leaders

Political poisoning of Malaysian minds has incapacitated their inherent abilities to do undertake political analysis. When issues of public interest arise, all it takes is one brazen leader to give a red herring response such as:

“Who is asking? We have shown many times that the trips taken by the present officers (cost) much (less) that in the past (under BN rule prior to 2008).

Then, most are silenced, cowering in fear that they might have offended that leader. Before you begin your retort, allow me to share with you a tale of two leaders.

Once upon a time in early November 2013, there were two leaders – one from the east (Lim Guan Eng), the other from the West (Jim Lane, Mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona, USA) who went to the 17th annual Inter-Islands Tourism Policy (ITOP) Forum, held from November 6 to 9 in Haikou, Hainan, China. Topics of discussion included how to preserve local island culture while accommodating global tourism.
Jim Lane went alone and his trip was funded by the government of Haikou, Hainan.

Lim Guan Eng went with a 21-member delegation and the Penang state coffers footed the bill.
George Hartz, President of Scottsdale Sister Cities, said that Mayor Jim Lane was given the opportunity to promote Scottsdale tourism at the forum.

According to its official website, Inter-Islands Tourism Policy Forum was founded in 1997 with the attendance of four provincial governments of Bali, Indonesia, Hainan, China, Okinawa, Japan and Jeju, South Korea led by Jeju.

This Forum is aimed at exploring the world tourism market jointly by bring together islands that have cultural sympathy and similar tourism structure and policy. The Forum has grown from four starting member islands to 10 members including Jeju, Hainan, Okinawa, Bali, Southern Province, Canary Islands, Zanzibar, Hawaii, Phuket and Cebu.

Note: Penang is NOT a member of ITOP. Hence, is it justified that the 21-member delegation of Penang government officers, their spouses and business representatives visited China costing RM93,910 at the state’s expense?

Whether or not BN spent more or less during their tenure is irrelevant. It is merely pulling wool over our eyes so that we cannot see the discrepancies therein.

The fact remains that the state paid the 21-member delegation to attend the forum and did the following:

1. They signed a MOU on establishment of Friendship Cities between Penang and the Hainan provincial government. (done by the delegation)

2. They renewed the Friendship Cities relationship between Xiamen and Penang on the 20th anniversary of this scheme. (done by the delegation)

3. Lim paid two courtesy calls on the government, leaders of industry, the Xiamen mayor and the Hainan governor. (done by ONE person – LGE)

4. Lim delivered a talk at the ITOP Forum themed ‘Globalization and Localization: Opportunity and Challenge for Island Tourism Development’. (done by ONE person – LGE)

Look at the record of achievement for that trip and answer the following question objectively. Is it justified that Lim Guan Eng needed 21 members, including his spouse at the expense of the state government whereas Jim Lane went ALONE at the invitation of the Haikou government who paid for his trip?

Who can forget his famous justification for his wife’s presence by his statement whereby “We feel very lonely without our spouses, we go with spouse is a problem, don’t go with spouse also a problem.”
Does such a statement reflect a person’s political and emotional maturity?

Think. Why did Haikou pay for Mayor Jim Lane’s participation at the ITOP forum? Food for thought.
For your information, Scottsdale has been recognized today as Arizona’s 2013 eCity by tech giant Google. “Scottsdale’s growth and innovation in e-commerce is an example that other cities across the state can strive to replicate,” said Scott Levitan, Google’s director of small business engagement, in a statement. “Google is proud to recognize this growing entrepreneurial spirit and the role it plays in creating jobs and sustaining local economies.”

Apart from the UNESCO Heritage listing for Penang (which has nothing to do with current state government), what international accolades have Lim and his team won for Penang? Any results for all the hot air more-than-a-mouthful theme of Penang As An International And Intelligent City Is Leveraged On Building A Liveable City That Attracts Human Talent And Formulates People-Centric Policies That Transforms Penang Into A Developed, Sustainable And Inclusive Economy Without Poverty? Shallow and meaningless words such as these give an empty and hollow ring when we see the congestion in Penang and the rising property prices which have prevented real Penang kia from owning homes in the state. Instead, we see foreigners, especially those from another island, who are happily (in Monopoly style) taking over shopping malls, hawker centres, even properties in heritage areas, and of course not forgetting the many high-rise luxurious condominiums that few can even dream of owning at all!

Finally, does it need an expenditure of RM93,910 for the ITOP and to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the establishment of sister cities between Penang and Xiamen in Xiamen? Is Xiamen really so important to Penang? Penang is not even listed in Wikipedia’s listing for Xiamen.
In fact, if you were to Google for PENANG AND XIAMEN, what will Google show you? The Balance of Trade in both states? Nope. Merely flights and cheap tickets from Penang to Xiamen. Now what does that tell you?

Analyze the objectives of the ITOP forum which include learning about newly emerged trends in world tourism industry, enhancing the relationship within the world’s Islands, broadening the network which plays significant role in promoting the region as world’s best tourist destination. These are roles played by the Ministry of Tourism! Look at the list in the delegation. Should they have been there?

I am confounded at the way in which one person can lead so many by their noses via red herrings and arrogant responses to justify a meaningless trip by so many when clearly only ONE person should go. All that hullabaloo protest by Lim Guan Eng serves to point us in the one direction as to the real reason for the trip. Cut the crap and quit pulling wool over our eyes. Justify why such a big delegation was sent at the state’s expense for an event that is quite narrow in scope and overlaps with the Tourism ministry’s portfolio.

 By Datuk Huan Cheng Guan