Born With ONE Mission

Born with ONE Mission

Datuk Huan Cheng Guan

President, Centre for Political Awareness

In a letter to Richard Price on 8 January 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government." 

Today, that statement does not hold true because the Internet has made it possible for netizens to be informed, misinformed, and/or disinformed. This is applies for many citizens’ perception of our Prime Minister and the government.
© 2008-2014 Citizen Times | All Rights Reserved

Disinformation is misleading false information announced deliberately by an organization/individual, especially by an intelligence agency, to influence public opinion of the government whereas misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is spread unintentionally. Malaysians today are victims of surreptitious disinformation propaganda subtly planned and executed to brainwash them against BN. The ultimate goal is to topple Barisan Nasional via whatever means by making citizens resistant to positive messages about the government and utterly receptive of any anti-government message without question.

In a recent letter to The Malaysian Insider (http://tinyurl.com/nbsbmud), the writer mocks the PM’s recent statement about the defeat of Brazil  and ineffective leadership by decrying  that statement was the result of the PM’s reflections about himself. With little faith in the PM’s leadership, he says the country is heading for troubled waters, citing issues such as racism, and corruption to support his stand. 

Despite acknowledging how economic experts have applauded the PM’s budgets, Nozmy shows his ignorance and narrow-mindedness  in his doubts about their efficacy. He cannot and will not realize that no one is God nor can anyone play God to change the circumstances of the world – not even ministers, academics, economists, analysts, the PM or even Nomy Nozwir himself!

Nomy has failed to realize that the country is NOT governed by man’s feelings – the sum of which is SUBJECTIVE, ERRATIC, and DYNAMIC. Neither can this country be governed by absolute figures, statistics, or whatever digits anyone can produce.  There is no black or white world whereby things can be compartmentalized into boxes or files. We live in a dynamic country where a myriad of forces are at work both to build and to break this nation.

Nozmy fails to realize the PM is NOT a magician, wizard, or extra-terrestrial being. He cannot, with the wave of a wand, turn deficit budgets into surplus budgets, or spike GDP figures nor  multiply FDIs statistics or increase power supply at zero cost to consumers. If it were as simple, our PM would not have hired the best to advise him. Even so, brainwashed citizens slam the PM for having a bloated budget.

Regardless of what the PM does or does NOT do, those who have been brainwashed or fed on a generous and continuous diet of disinformation can NEVER ever see the good that the PM has achieved for this nation.  Give credit when it is due. They will never acknowledge the following achievements:

Malaysia is now gaining momentum and prestige as an investment destination as a multinational marketplace in its own right, and as a gateway to Asean.

1. Our economy is liberal, connective and on track to reach our national economic ambition: to become a high-income nation by 2020, one of the few countries to cross the threshold this century.

2. The Economic Transformation Programme aims to attract 1.23 trillion ringgit in private investment by the end of the decade. Foreign capital will continue to build the businesses, infrastructure and confidence on which Malaysia's economic success depends. ETP achievements include:

• soaring gross national income

• huge increases in competitiveness

• our country is heading to high-income status

• more opportunities for young people

• more accessible financial sector

• clear balance between macro achievements and individual success

• open to foreign investment

• directing resources and policies towards key economic priorities

The government is trying its best to create growth that LASTS – not the lightning bolt type – but an economy where national development and individual ambitions unite behind common goals.

3. The following figures speak for themselves:  

GDP: 2013 The country's gross domestic product grew by 4.7 per cent.

          2014 first quarter – our GDP was 6.2% exceeding expectations.

Private consumption : 2010 = 6.9% but 2013 was 7.6%. or 51.2 per cent of GDP. We are on track to achieve around 60 per cent of GDP by 2020.

Malaysia’s private investment:  Between 2010 and 2013, it grew 15.3% i.e. tripled the compounded annual growth rate compared to the previous three-year period.

Total private investment last year reached 161.1 billion ringgit. Malaysia surpassed the 2013 target by some 8.6 per cent- a figure, which is DOUBLE the 86.7 billion ringgit, invested in 2010.

Market capitalization for Malaysian companies has grown by 184 per cent since 2009 (194 plc) to 2013 (274 public listed companies)s.

Sectors in the National Key Economic Areas have created a total of 1.3 million additional high-value jobs in the past three years. 

5. Bloomberg (http://tinyurl.com/nflwgjc) reports that Malaysia is the first in Southeast Asia to raise its benchmark rate this year, underscoring policy makers’ confidence in the nation’s economic growth as exports and domestic demand recover. 

6. “Recent economic data has been strong, which suggests the economy is healthy enough to withstand a tightening in monetary policy,” said Krystal Tan, a Singapore-based analyst at Capital Economics Ltd. 

7. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts Bank Negara will deliver another 25 basis point increase in the benchmark rate by year-end as strengthening global growth boosts Malaysian exports, Hong Kong-based analyst Jonathan Sequeira wrote in a research note yesterday. ( http://tinyurl.com/nflwgjc)

How many Malaysians know that? How many writers, journalists, media, and online portals headlined those milestones? The absence of acknowledgement in so many sites is concrete evidence of an insidious disinformation plot to turn citizens against the PM and government. 

Malaysians often think in terms of they, themselves and the ‘I’ looming in front of them. Most choose to remain negative without acknowledging or giving credit to our government, which has improved fiscal policy practices and implemented disciplined governance - even if such moves are NOT populist policies and do not go down well with the rakyat. Citizens condemn GST, Tenaga Malaysia rate increases etc without understanding why the government reduced subsidies or  improved value management.

Fredrico Gil Sander, senior country economist for the World Bank, openly acknowledged  that “Malaysia's biggest advantage was its openness to international business communities, which had encouraged rapid improvement in its global competitiveness.” However, Malaysians such as Nozmy and other PR naysayers have NOTHING GOOD to say of the government. 

It is as if they were born to fulfil one mission – curse and condemn BN!

Considering his ignorance in economic achievements and how the economy works, Nozmy should remain in the world of fiction and continue writing his books. Leave governance and economic analysis to experts or those who BOTHER to dig for themselves what are the real statistics.

Many do not bother to find out more about things work or to discover who is telling the truth or spreading disinformation.  Malaysians must not be fooled or hoodwinked by lies of the Opposition, especially Anwar Ibrahim and his ilk. 

Stop blaming the PM or BN for anything and everything. Malaysia’s economy, environment, moral legacy, government, pride, and the quality of the life of all Malaysians now and forever depend on no one but ourselves. Is that too difficult for you to understand, Nozmy?

Let us have only one united mission – LOVE MALAYSIA! Let us support our government in practical ways that we as a nation can move forward – together!

Why is Malaysia so Polarised today?

In the good old days, citizens only had The Straits Echo, New Straits Times and later on, The Star, to feed them with the latest news. The advent of information technology and rise of Internet popularity has seen the proliferation of online news portals - independent and the not-so-independent ones. Since then, news readership of mainstream media has been steadily on the decline and the print media is being sustained mainly by advertising revenue. Beyond all those superficial issues, the fact remains that the rise of the new media has paved the way for more partisan media in Malaysia and triggered an insidious process of political polarisation of Malaysia.

Today, news audience seems to be divided into three segments - the Pro-BN, the Pro-PR and of course, the fence-sitters. Without prejudice, many seem to buy the tales of their preferred media - lock, stock and barrel without questioning the authenticity of the report, the implication of bias headlines, morals, objectivity and even the unhealthy slants of fanatically populist and anti-establishment, anti-corruption rhetoric, anti-PM articles that those independent news portals carried by TMI, FZ, The Ant Daily, MK, Malaysia Chronicle and other sites. Consequently, more are blindly pro-Opposition and narrowmindedly anti-BN with a one-track mind!

Hitler once said: "A lie told often enough becomes the truth."

That is exactly what is happening in Malaysia.  the last ten years or so, irresponsible sites have been filling the Internet with lies, distortions of truth, fabrications of concocted reality and all kinds of warped messages.

A very good example is the Altantuya case. 

At the end of this post is a list of headlines from various news portals. Even without reading the whole report, citizens are being BRAINWASHED to hate the government!

Why?

What is the real agenda of those media sites? Why are they persistently seducing their audience with populist views?

Why are some sites so pro-Anwar and anti-Najib?

For that, we need to examine the content, background and ownership of those sites.

News content that is stems from simple and clear ideological slant e.g. Anti-BN headlines would naturally attract viewers who are ALREADY dissatisfied with the state of affairs. Hence, readers would perceive such websites to be more credible as the owners/writers seem to share their political attitudes.

By reading such distorted articles, these readers are unconsciously reinforcing their stereotypes of the status quo and thus political polarisation multiplies at a very dangerously worrying rate. Things can come to a head when the political ambiance in the country is heated and then fringes may be on the rise.

In reality, citizens have a few choices. They can treat these as the gospel truth or ignore them or accept it and think nothing about those deceptive messages. There is one thing which FEW would ever do.

That is to TEST and to VERIFY the information.

I am not saying we have a perfect government (none exists in this world by the way). We have an imperfect government that is trying to perfect its imperfections in sincere programmes such as GTP, BR1M etc. Along the way, we have little devils in irresponsible news portals spreading doubts, magnifying weaknesses, glorifying the Opposition.

I do not deny the presence of a strong Opposition is important BUT it has to be a wholesome, effective and upright Opposition and that is absent in Malaysia.

There is much irony in news reporting.

1. When the status quo tells the truth e.g. in AG's reports, they are blasted to kingdom come for this and that. Fine - all in the name of efficiency.

However...

2. If the Opposition does something wrong and then the status quo gives them a dose of their own medicine via public criticism, all hell breaks lose and the citizens turn a blind eye to the weaknesses or failings of the Opposition and go into full throttle to blast BN.

Fair?

3. The worst scenario is this. The whole question of selective exposure is a pivotal factor in polarizing Malaysia. Those who are politically conscious carry with them biases and beliefs that those online sites are believable and trustworthy and deliberately read only THOSE news which can strongly influence their attitudes, speech and voting behaviour. These citizens, armed with their 'perceived' inference of what is right and wrong, go on to become opinion leaders in kopi tiams and INFLUENCE others to share their beliefs. Such a multiplier effect in wider society and at the grassroot level can be very potent in swinging voters to become pro-Opposition.

Now here's the catch.

Some argue and say - if that is the case, why can't the government close down those sites?

Helloooooooooo!

If the ruling government would do that in the name of curbing hostility etc... those 'biased' pro-Opposition citizens would say - there you go - we have a government that does NOT practise freedom of speech or press freedom.

It is a Catch 22 for our government, whom I believe is sincerely trying its best to maintain a healthy balance of freedom in a non-hostile and non-confrontational way. 

If they pull up editors for misdeeds, people would protest and this would trigger another wave of anti-BN sentiments. 

If the government does nothing and allows freedom of speech, the pro-Opposition fellas will say - see our leaders are useless!

Either way, to the pro-PR supporters, BN is always wrong, PR is always right! Sheesssshhh!

The bottom line is this.

Many sites have been spinning their yarn of lies, of deception and myths to the extent that these have become 'truths' in the minds of the audience. You see, the culture of ignorance has made many quite clueless about integrity and journalistic principles.

They do not know what is right or wrong. They only know BN is wrong. Remove BN. All will be right after that WHEN (or so they dreamlah) Pakatan Rakyat takes over.

What a lame and blind displacement of hope!

Their folly is this - their ridiculous belief that whatever BN does is wrong.

To them, whatever PR does is RIGHT. Even if it is wrong, it is ok for their wrong is not as unforgivable as BN's mistakes.

Now you see - our society has really become not only ignorant but so polarized that many have lost their sense of judgement.

They can only see our Prime Minister as the villain and Anwar as the hero.

Anwar - the one who gallivants to foreign countries to shame and blame this nation for anything, anywhere, anyhow he chooses.

Or maybe some look to Lim Kit Siang and his obedient son Lim Guan Eng who has led Penang to four or five consecutive budget deficits, land reclamation issues and botak hills.

In spite of all this...

Despite water cuts and what-have-you's....in the eyes of pro-Opposition citizens....they will say - it is OKlah...they are not as bad as BN.

You see...it is not BN that is taking our citizens on the road to destruction.

It is PR and their insidious media who are marking the routes, paving the different roads to destruction and hurrah for them...many citizens are happily traipsing and spreading their new found 'Pro-PR euphoria'.

Do you see how pervasive is the effect of biased reporting from those websites? They have a malevolent agenda. One to divide, not unite. One to polarise, not to spread harmony.

Maybe now you can understand why this country is so polarised.

Maybe now you can appreciate the uphill task of our government to develop this country for the common good.

Be deceived no more!

_______________________________________

A sample of MALAYSIAKINI headlines and articles:

1. Ministry bleeds RM78mil in bio-tech gamble (Malaysiakini)

2. A case of the PM reaping what he sows

3. How much will Najib spend to keep Terengganu? (#2 and # 3 Malaysiakini compiled readers' comments and transformed them into a main post with a mischievous heading. The PM has sued them over these two articles)

4. Cabinet reshuffle another game of musical chairs

A sample of headlines and articles from The Malaysian Insider:

1. Is anyone running Malaysia? (Commentary by Malaysian Insider)

2. When Putrajaya’s words mean naught to Malaysians (Commentary by Malaysian Insider)

3. Gays, lesbians might get no protection under Harmony Bill 

4. Doing nothing about human trafficking is a disgrace - It is shocking that this article is written by someone attached to a local university who should know better than to have used 'NOTHING' in the title. How sure is she that the government has done nothing? The Editor should have known better than to have featured such an article but then again, TMI loves to disgrace the government. That seems to be their preoccupation of late!

Malaysian Chronicle - The website that reposts news from other sites and then SENSATIONALISES the news item by putting in their own headline just to attract other readers who come in thinking it is a different article from the original source but darn - they are deceived! Their forte is to blast 

PM, his wife, the government and to glorify the Opposition!

1. After Allah ruling, Najib preens his Islamic credentials: BE LIKE IRAQI MILITANTS, he tells Umno (original article from TMI)

2. Rosmah’s denial she EMPTIES the pool each time she swims goes viral (original article from Harakah Daily)

3. Crushed by corruption, injustice & rising extremism, M'sia faces an unsure & uncertain future

4. WASTE OF TIME HYPOCRISY! Umno’s governance proves Malay rule can be fair, Najib says (original article from The Malay Mail)

The BN Journey to Economic Development

Of late, there have been many reports slamming our government for not doing enough to develop our economy. My previous post touched on how hard data shows that despite whatever negative lies spread by enemies, our government has actually done pretty well. In this post, I will consider how our country has grown because of the right policies and economic decisions made by BN in relation to our resources and exports.

In the early years after independence, Malaysia enjoyed high growth rates because it adopted the import substitution industrialization strategy (ISI).  Our country developed economically due to the unprecedented growth of the manufacturing sector largely dominated by foreign capital. This led to a change in the nature of exports.

A country's pattern of economic development can largely be influenced by structural changes in exports and increased export diversification. In fact, many Malaysians be be unaware that our country's export growth strategy has helped to spearhead our nation's industrial success. The Penang Free Trade Zone was a forerunner in triggering the development of export oriented industries.

Malaysia has also specialized in exporting high-technology as opposed to traditional or low- technology goods thereby enjoying rapid growth in key areas. Huge MNCs such as Intel, Fairchild, Solectron, NS Electronics and many other important hi-tech companies chose to set up manufacturing plants here. Consequently, the share of manufacturing in GDP increased from 9.4% (1960) to 12% (1970). During the same period,  the share of industry grew even faster from 19.4% to 27.4%. However, the primary commodities sector did not grow as much because it was too capital intensive then.

Thus it can be seen that the 1970s was a significant crossroad for Malaysia because our government switched from the ISI to Export Oriented Industrialization (EOI) following the establishment of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which identified the manufacturing sector as the main engine for growth for the next 20 years.

We all know the NEP is aimed at improving the economic position of the Bumiputeras and this has been a sore point with some quarters. However, what many do not know is that via the NEP, Malaysia successfully developed its export manufacturing sector while not neglecting other sectors such as agriculture. It was in this period that Malaysia began its transformation from the traditional export base to manufactured exports.

Hence, while many are criticizing the NEP, they are deliberately being oblivious to how the implementation of the EOI actually spiked FDI to spearhead growth in the manufacturing sector.

Following that success, Malaysia embarked on a second round of ISI. This time, the government targettted developing domestic entrepreneurs, with the hope that they could link or network with those foreign companies that had already set up bases here.

However, the timing was bad because economic recession started in the mid 1980s so the heavy industries initiative did not achieve much progress because of its high capital outlay and poor implementation. As a result, Malaysia reverted to the EOI structure again.

Fortunately, economic transformation was already taking place within the manufacturing sector during this downturn in the economy so by 1990s, most of our exports were manufactured goods. By 2010, high-technology products comprised about 50 percent of its manufactured exports. 

These developments could occur because our government made the right economic decisions and implemented the correct policies to spark the increase in trade, structure and plan for a change in export composition and economic growth in a liberalized environment for the good of Malaysia.

Looking back, we must give credit to our government for being consistent in achieving a very commendable decade average growth rate of approximately between 5.8 percent and 7.8 percent from 1960 to 2000.

What the Opposition chooses NOT to disclose is that our country's  impressive growth rate was accompanied by structural transformation and also by a dramatic increase in GDP per capita which grew from USD 300 in 1960 to USD 7029 in 2009 accompanied by a significant reduction in poverty.

Take a look at our economic data from CIA. Note how the GDP per capita and Gross National Saving figures have been improving for the past three consecutive years.

While some traitors go around painting such a negative picture of our country - a move which is totally uncalled for- how many loyal citizens would really consider a macro view of how we have moved FORWARD despite whatever weaknesses - real or perceived?

Do you think the Opposition leaders would stand in front of international and local media to acknowledge how through the years, thanks to the effort of our government, Malaysia is an export driven economy spurred by industries that are knowledge based, capital intensive and hi-tech? 

Where would we be today if not for our government's capable economic advisors?

This site says that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Malaysia was worth 303.53 billion US dollars in 2012. The GDP value of Malaysia represents 0.49 percent of the world economy. 

GDP in Malaysia averaged 65.56 USD Billion from 1960 until 2012, reaching an all time high of 303.53 USD Billion in 2012 and a record low of 2.42 USD Billion in 1961. 

(GDP in Malaysia is reported by the World Bank Group.)

From 1960 to 2010, records indicate that Malaysia’s trade in both goods and services increased dramatically from 89 percent of GDP to 177 percent of GDP. That is truly an amazing development in a time frame of 50 years. 

Malaysians should be waxing lyrical about our achievements instead of being conned by half-past six naysayers, quack economists and failed accountants  from the other side of the political divide who only know how to boast about their amassing 52% of the popular votes. 

What other figures can they be proud of? Nothing! I forgot - they do boast about how many times their elected leaders have been arrested or charged for misdemeanours.

Don't forget our government also implemented the Industrial Master Plan to steer the manufacturing sector from the dependence on the electronics and textile sectors which accounted for 65 percent of manufactured exports by 1983. The Plan resulted in a huge influx of foreign firms to Malaysia which invested in the

manufacturing sector in line with their overall industrial master plan for the economy.

As a result of that policy, 12 subsectors were identified as high priority status including seven resource based industries and five non resource based industries to be developed over the ten year period. 

Apart from these initiatives to restructure our economy, our government also froze wages for three years in a bid to attract foreign firms which might think Malaysia had high start-up costs. We must also remember the role of the Malaysia Industrial Development Authority which helped maximize the incentives given to guide foreign direct investments to add value to their economic decision.

Another thing is this. When the Malaysian currency weakened in comparison to other Asian currencies, we enjoyed FDI from mainly Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan which relocated to Malaysia which became a cheaper location for doing business.

Did the Opposition EVER give credit to the government for all this?

More importantly, WHAT has the Opposition done for Malaysia?

Shaming the nation both in and out of the contry - a move that has probably cost the government a lot of money in terms of investments, FDI and even tourism revenue.

Showing gross disrespect to the PM and the coalition government

Making baseless accusations which are readily accepted by naive Malaysians to be the gospel truth!

The next time any Opposition leader or supporter criticizes the government's economic policies, please do not join the mob to condemn our leaders. Instead, ask those Opposition leaders such as the Pakatan Rakyat leaders:

• what have they done for this country in concrete terms
• how much FDI have they brought into the country
• how have they helped the GDP of this country to improve
• what plans do they have on the drawing board to show us

No plan? Zip up!

No clue? Think again before they criticize for the sake of criticizing to create nothing but hot air!

Ubah? Then show us HOW.

Take a look at Penang. Has it developed for the better? FYI, Penang has had FOUR consecutive years of budget deficits. 

On the other hand, kudos to PM Najib and his team of economic advisers and departments which have carried us thus far. Thanks to BN for being persistent in their journey to the economic development of Malaysia!

Dear Malaysians, let us really love Malaysia by honoring her, respecting our leaders and putting to rest the lies spun by the Opposition.

The figures speak for themselves.

You be the judge.

Thank you.

Be Grateful to the Government

Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin reminded businessmen that they owed their success to all the aid the government has provided them and should be grateful for it, Utusan Malaysia reported today.

The Umno-owned daily quoted Daim as saying they were in no position to be arrogant and tarnish the government’s image, given all the riches they had reaped from the country.

“These successful companies should not smear the country and government because they received a lot of help. Instead, they should repent and be grateful,” Utusan quoted Daim as saying.



Daim was responding to tycoon Tan Sri Francis Yeoh’s (pic) comments that Malaysia should be free from crony capitalism, racism and religious rhetoric if it wished to remain competitive globally.
The managing director of YTL Corporation Bhd had also claimed his company had never practised graft, and that 85% of his firm’s businesses were abroad.

“This practice (of tarnishing the government) should be stopped. It is not right for us to become successful by raking in the country’s riches and end up insulting the government,” Daim was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Malay right-wing group Perkasa today claimed Yeoh was a government crony whose success relied on the special privileges he received.

“If he hates cronyism, Perkasa is urging him to return all the opportunities his firm received through direct negotiations," said its secretary-general, Syed Hassan Syed Ali.

Syed Hassan also reminded the tycoon not to forget how he had come to amass such wealth.

“He is proud his firm is given so many opportunities overseas and says this means there is no cronyism involved.

“But does he think foreign countries would give him a chance if he had no brilliant track record?

“Where did his firm start and where was it first recognised to the point that he is now listed among the richest? Was it not from this country?”

Yeoh, however, has claimed that his statements were twisted by the media. He said he has defended the present administration's efforts to introduce more open competition and encourage greater transparency in business.

He said that he wanted to dispel the “misconception that successful businesses in Malaysia are a result of crony capitalism".

In a Global Malaysia Series talks organised by Pemandu on Tuesday, Yeoh was reported as saying that 85% of YTL’s business were in Britain, Singapore and Australia because these countries did not tolerate corruption, practised meritocracy and stood for the rule of law.

 “For example, in Singapore, we own a third of Singapore’s electricity. There is no subsidy of any kind. There is no cronyism of any type. The good thing about these three territories, I don’t have to kowtow to the prime minister before I do deal(s), I don’t have to see them even, even after I’ve won the deal," he was quoted as saying by a news portal – June 7, 2014.

- The Malaysian Insider -

Teluk Intan - The Omen for Pakatan Rakyat

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Unresolved issues within Pakatan Rakyat (PR) such as PAS's renewed hudud bid and the mounting discontent in Selangor could leave the pact with just Penang and handful of federal seats in urban areas in the next general election, according to political observers.



PR leaders told The Malay Mail Online that DAP's performance in Teluk Intan — going from a 7,313-majority win in 2013 to a 238-vote loss — is an indication of potential losses in the future if PAS, DAP, and PKR do not settle its conflicts and maintain its common policy framework.

Issues such as growing public anger towards Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's handling of the Kinrara Damansara Expressway (Kidex), the seizure of Malay- and Iban-language bibles by the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) and allegations of voter manipulation and result delays in PKR's on-going party elections are but a few examples of issues facing the PR state government.

Another pressing concern is PAS's unilateral push for hudud to be implemented in Kelantan, which critics have pointed out went against PR's Election 2013 manifesto.

“If this goes on, we might see a repeat of what happened to PAS in Kedah in 2013 and Barisan Nasional (BN) in Selangor before 2008.

“If voters decided to punish Pakatan in Selangor for not listening and addressing their concerns, like in the Kidex and bible issue we could very well lose the state come GE14,” former political analyst and DAP election strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.



He said PAS's insistence on its hudud bid was costing the opposition pact support among non-Malay voters whom he said feel let down by the Islamist party's departure from its previous “PAS for all” agenda during GE13.

“Because PAS has pushed hudud, which is not part of PR's common manifesto, voters feel betrayed because it goes against our election promise — no hudud,” Ong added.

Adding to that concern, Ong said was PKR's leadership crisis and internal strife in its party election.

“The fact that the elections have dragged on longer than it should is distracting the party from addressing its problems with the Selangor administration.

“The other worry is that PKR's election problems may affect Pakatan's agenda for free and fair elections.... how do we promote that when there are serious concerns as to the transparency of elections on a party level,” he said.

PKR’s internal polls have been mired by allegations of corruption and impropriety, forcing the party to conduct fresh balloting for 35 branches and indefinitely postpone the results.

Selangor DAP deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo agreed with his party colleague, stressing that PR had a “moral obligation” to uphold all of its Election 2013 promises.

A vocal opponent of Kidex, Gobind said that MB Khalid's support for the highway as well as PAS's hudud push contravened the opposition pact's common agenda.

Kidex is a proposed 14.9km highway that will cut through densely-populated parts of Petaling Jaya that is meeting with increasing resistance from residents.

“Promises made during elections must be kept, there is no other way around this.

“In the case of hudud, Malaysia is and must always remain a secular state,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

In 1993, the PAS state government passed the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code Enactment (II), allowing it to impose the strict Islamic penal code in the state. But the laws have not been implemented.

PAS is now looking for parliamentary approval to implement hudud. It plans to put forward two private members’ bills in Parliament.

“What will happen if these things go unaddressed is that people will be reluctant to come out to vote.

“Because if they support DAP and PKR, it means they support PAS as well,” the Puchong MP added.

Independent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng said that PR's inability to honour its common policy agenda showed that the three-party pact was still a “loose coalition” and that not all of its leaders were on the same page.

This, he said would do little to inspire voters to come out and support PR in the next general election in the numbers that gave the pact the popular vote victory in Election 2013.

“What you are going to see is a trend of voters who may be Pakatan supporters but who will not want to go back to their home states to vote,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Low voter turnout was cited as among the factors that saw DAP lose in Teluk Intan.

Khoo added that the issues in Selangor and the hudud push in Kelantan will also affect how voters viewed PR as a whole.

“When you oversell on reform, you have to back it up.

“What is happening in Selangor and Kelantan is not a good example of good governance,” Khoo said.

In Election 2013, PR won 89 of the 222 federal seats, building on the 82 it took five years before and again denied BN its customary supermajority in Parliament.


- Malay Mail -

Umno member’s acts will affect BN, says Mah

TELUK INTAN: Teluk Intan Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong says the gatecrashing of the Penang state assembly and the protest outside the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur have affected Chinese support for the Barisan Nasional (BN).

Speaking to Sin Chew Daily during his campaign rounds at the leaning clock tower in Teluk Intan on Saturday morning, Mah said a survey showed that the two incidents have caused some Chinese voters to become alienated.

According to press reports, a group of Umno members barged into the Penang state assembly last Wednesday, demanding an apology from Seri Delima assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer, who allegedly uttered "Umno celaka" during Tuesday's sitting.

On Thursday, a group of Umno Youth members staged a protest in front of the DAP headquarters in Jalan Yew, Kuala Lumpur, to urge the DAP leadership to take action against Rayer.

Mah, who is Gerakan president, said the action of the group that barged into the state assembly is wrong.

The incident will indeed affect the chances of BN in Teluk Intan, which is what DAP wants to see.

"Sometimes, we don't know who these people are but their actions are eventually attributed to BN," he said.

Mah, who had called for a gentleman's fight with his opponent, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud of DAP, expressed regret that a number of his campaign billboards were defaced.

"On social media, there are people who superimposed my face on (images of) other people at places I have never been.

"Lies about me are also circulated via text messages. This is regrettable."

He said if BN supporters also resort to a smear campaign, it will only lead to heightened confrontation and affect the image of Teluk Intan.

He appealed for a stop to smear campaigns before the situation gets worse.

Meanwhile, a few DAP elected representatives from Penang, who are campaigning for Dyana Sofya, lodged a police report over the appearance of posters in a Malay kampung showing the DAP candidate alongside a bikini-clad actress, with whom she shares a striking facial resemblance.

They said the posters were clearly aimed at smearing the image of Dyana Sofya.

Source: THE SUN

Will Pakatan save Barisan for the next 10 years?

MANY people will celebrate this coming Saturday as the 6th anniversary of the 2008 Political Celebration.

For Malaysians who want regime change, March 8 is the most commemorative date on the calendar because it gives them hope, or in the words of writer Kee Thuan Chye, it was "the day Malaysia woke up."

March 8 six years ago was the day the Opposition parties, for the first time after 1969, denied the ruling coalition its customary two-thirds, and first time ever, rule a host of five states. It was the day many Malaysians discovered that their votes actually could make a difference.

But the very reason why March 8 is so widely commemorated by Pakatan Rakyat and Civil Society is also really because they cannot celebrate May 5, the day that is supposed to end Umno's 59/51 years rule of Malaya/Malaysia.

In other words, every celebration of the greatness of March 8 is an unspoken mourning over the failure of May 5.

So, how many more years will the Malaysia democrats celebrate most grandly the March 8 near-miss because they cannot celebrate regime change?

How did Umno/BN rebound from near-misses?

The answer may lie with Pakatan Rakyat: PKR, PAS and DAP.

Lest we forget, 2008 was not the first time Umno and BN escaped their defeat. In fact, it was the third, after the 1990 and 1999 abortive attempts. Each time, Umno and BN bounced back stronger than before.

In both the 1990 and 1999 episodes, three things happened: change – of policy or leadership – in BN; break-up of the opposition coalition; and, seat increase and constituency redelineation.

1. Change in BN Policy/Leadership

Conventionally, the First-Past-The-Post electoral system forces political parties to win the middle ground voters. Hence, electoral set-backs will often lead to change of policy or leadership to restore a party's popularity or voters' confidence on it.

BN followed this rule in 1990 when the opposition won 47% of votes, and some 70% support amongst Chinese voters. But it managed to secure majority of Malay voters west of Banjaran Titiwangsa because Tengku Razaleigh wore a Kadazan traditional headgear with a crucifix-like pattern. That became the evidence he sold out the Malay-Muslims to Kadazan-Catholics.

To win back the Chinese voters, within four months from election, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dished out Vision 2020 and introduced cultural and educational liberalisation, which paved way for significant increase in Chinese support of BN for the next three elections.

In 1999, BN secured the support of the Chinese who were largely afraid of another 1969-style post-election riot as well as an Islamic State should PAS come to power. But the Malays were polarised by Mahathir, whose sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was seen by many Malays as tyrannical and un-Malay.

To save Umno, Dr Mahathir retired on November 2003. In March 2004, his successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called a fresh poll and won a 91% parliamentary majority.

2. Break-up of Opposition Coalition

Umno/BN's revival requires the Opposition coalitions to break-up so that middle-ground voters can be convinced that Umno/BN is the only electable party to run the country.

Some misunderstood that the opposition parties were more disunited than the BN parties. The actual fact is that coalitions are much built by the benefits and prospects of staying in power.

That's why Umno schisms in both episodes would lead to formation of opposition coalitions which were respectively led by Razaleigh's S46 and Anwar's Keadilan.

When the opposition coalitions lost the elections without even denying BN's two-third majority, the incentives to hold the opposition parties together disappeared.

After 1990, PAS pushed Hudud Law in Kelantan, S46 became more Malay nationalistic, and DAP soon quitted the opposition pact. And PAS and S46 too fought in Kelantan before Razaleigh's troop rejoined Umno.

After 1999, PAS pushed Hudud Law in Terengganu, while PKR with Anwar in jail couldn't do much, not long after the 911 Incident, DAP again called it quit.

And of course, disarrayed oppositions made BN naturally appealing, especially after policy and leadership changes respectively.

3. Seat Increase and Constituency Redelineation

While the above two factors are well-known, few realise the BN's rebound was amplified by seat increase and constituency redelineation in the Peninsula that happened before the next election.

The 1994 redelineation was packaged with an increase of 12 seats in Peninsula, leading to a net of six more seats allocated for Umno to contest.

While Mahathir's BN was no doubt way more popular in 1995 than in 1990, DAP and PAS were shortchanged in the Peninsula by constituency redelineation.

In 1990, DAP won 20 seats (then 15.15% of the Peninsula's total) with 18.04% of votes, yielding a vote value of 84%. To get the concept of vote value, think of vote analogously as a bank note, DAP could only get RM 0.84 worth of goods with a RM1 note.

By 1995, its vote share dropped by about one third to 12.13%, but its seat dropped sharply to only 8 (now 5.56%), yielding a vote value of 46%. In other words, the value of a DAP vote was almost halved.

Similarly, despite a slight increase of vote share from 7.79% to 8.45%, PAS found itself still winning only seven seats in a larger pool. The value of a vote for PAS dropped from 68% to 58%.

Abdullah's 91% parliamentary landslide in 2004 was BN's largest since Independence but his vote share, 63.85%, was only the second highest. Mahathir bagged the highest vote share of 65.16% in 1995 but only 84.38% of seats.

How did Abdullah do better than his predecessor? Again, his magic is in seat increase and constituency redelineation.

The Election Commission under Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman helped him with an increase of 26 seats in the Peninsula and Sabah (including Labuan) in 2003.

In 1995, Mahathir's BN won 65.27% of votes in these two regions, which was translated into 82.42% of their total seats, yielding a vote value of 126%. By 2004, Abdullah's BN won 90.05% of seats with 63.72% of votes, yielding a vote value of 1.41.

Rashid was Abdullah's magician.

Will Pakatan be its worst enemy?

How long will Malaysian democrats have to celebrate May 8 as the most important political anniversary?

If historical pattern of Umno's revivals after 1990 and 1999 can be of any guide for the future, Umno is now deprived of its first favourable condition: policy or leadership change.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia is actually by and large Mahathir's Vision 2020 repackaged but he couldn't keep the pretension of inclusiveness. Any leadership change will likely alienate the opposition-voting majority further.

The two other favourable developments are however still possible: the break-up of Pakatan Rakyat; and, seat increase coupled with constituency redelineation.

To do the former, Umno had tried with different packages of coalition government but none has worked so far.

It still has a ultimate weapon – offering PAS hardliners constitutional amendment to allow Hudud Laws at state-level. But this may be a double-edged sword – BN may break too and Pakatan may turn out stronger after the exodus of some hardliners.

The best weapon for Umno is to lure Pakatan Rakyat to be its own enemy and agree on seat increase. With enough Pakatan politicians believing in the EC's win-win promise or their ability to outsmart it, the Commission can do its magic again and keep Umno in power for two more terms.

The opposition could not do anything in 1994 and 2003 to stop seat increase. If in 2014, Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians voluntarily sign democracy's delivery ticket to slaughter house, that tragedy would be too heavy to bear for Malaysia.

Source: Wong Chin Huat, FZ