NINA in UMNO...........No Income, No Assets.... BUT RICH

In UMNO there are many Malays who have become rich without working for it, without any business acumen and without any brains!

In UMNO there are many Malays who have been given lucrative business opportunities without any financial risks for them. These are fail-safe cash cows with an iron clad money back guarantee - the government buys it back from you at a premium – not IF you fail but WHEN you fail! But here is where UMNO has failed these Malays.

Tajuddin Ramli, Amin Shah, Halim Saad…

These are the top of the heap of failed Malay ‘businessmen’ who epitomize those who benefited from selective government patronage and became part of the culture of greed now infused into many Malay consciousness. These individuals have been given every assistance, every fail- safe option to succeed. And yet they fail.

And then there are those like Mahathir’s son, Mirzan: whose ‘businesses’ have been kept afloat by billions of ringgits belonging to the people and this son of Mahathir considers himself a businessman of considerable abilities - the new rich Malays. Malays who are multi millionaires riding on the back of UMNO and the people’s money. But at least this son makes a show of running a business empire- a diverse conglomerate that covers a range of activities – mostly legal! But come on lah….what business empire?

Given the breaks he has had, even a monkey can live in clover without ever running out of bananas for the rest of his life!

Then we have Malays like the late Zakaria Deros, Muhammad Taib, Isa Samad, Shahidan Kassim and of course the infamous Khir Toyo.

These are the scums of the earth. They do not even have the intelligence or decency to hide the wealth that they have stolen from the very people who have voted to put them in power. The hastiness in which Khir Toyo had proceeded to display his stolen wealth after losing office fills most of us with stomach wrenching disgust. But these are the people that UMNO has chosen to be leaders within UMNO.
But what is most damaging to the Malays are the many thousands of Malays who have been taught that money can be got by abusing the trust placed in them by other Malays.

A Ketua Cawangan gets a contract to build a primary school in his “kawasan”. Without any knowledge of business he is given a business opportunity way beyond his capacity to manage. All he knows is that he has to get someone… just about anyone…. who will take the contract off his hands and give him a handsome commission. He makes the 20% to 50% commission off the contract price. It does not concern him if the contract is successfully completed or not – what matters is how much he will make as commission from that contract – after all he has already spent the advance given to him by JKR to start the contract. To him this is a good way of doing business.

And so UMNO teaches a Malay to do business without having any knowledge of the business that he does, without any working capital, without risks and certainly without any brains to be able to better himself by this business opportunity given to him by UMNO. While all this is going on the wheeling and dealing is most intense in the corridors of power.

In Putrajaya and in the Government Ministries. Not only by the Minister himself but also by all his staff – anybody and everybody with access to the Minister will make their money. In Agriculture, Defense, Education, Trade, Energy, Water and Communication and the mother of all Ministries, The Ministry of Finance. And do not forget the Government Agencies and anywhere else a ringgit can be made. Hell there are money to be made even in Rela and the Anti-drugs Agency!

All this orgy of making money makes these Malays cash rich. Wine, women and song…big cars, nice clothes are easy enough habits to acquire but it does not teach them how to keep the money or how to use the money to make more money. And their ability to make money remains as long as their Minister stays a Minister – so make hay while the sun shines!

And so what does it do to these Malays? They become parasites. Parasite: “Somebody who lives off the generosity of others and does nothing in return” What they earn is not enough to keep them in the lifestyle that they want to live up to and so they take from us. While we have to live on the wages we earn UMNO eagerly opens up many sources of illegal income for those that pledge allegiance to the party.

These Malays are regarded by most Malays as the worst of the blight that UMNO has caused to the Malay race. The presence of these Malays makes real all that UMNO leaders have been saying about the Malays. That the Malays need to be spoon fed, that the Malays are unable to compete on a level playing field with the other races, that the Malays will always need Ketuanan Melayu or they will be no more Malays left in their own country! This is certainly true of the Malays in UMNO but not of the Malays outside UMNO!

I shudder to think of what the future will hold for these people. Where will they go and how will they survive when UMNO is out of government?

We see a bit of the future for these people in the likes of Ibrahim and Mahathir

They know nothing but politics. Without politics they do not have a life…….even when they are past 80. But there are no more places for them within UMNO. And so we see them do what they do now and they become a pain to us in a place where the sun does not shine! Just think of the negative impact it will have on the country when this scenario is repeated thousand of times at various levels after the next general elections when UMNO is ousted!

The way things are for UMNO they know it would be a mistake to send a message to the other races that UMNO only looks after their own – but what choice do they have?

What we need to understand is that UMNO has a fragmented political reality with real power residing outside cabinet. The extent to which this power is exercised will depend on the Prime Minister of the day.

Our history will show us that Tunku, Hussein Onn and Abdullah Badawi left office because of circumstances beyond their control. Circumstance created by those outside government but within UMNO. A weak PM like Najib will surrender power to this faction, or for the lack of a better word, to these warlords as and when dictated to do so.

Because UMNO has been identified with the Malays, UMNO’s problem is the Malay problem. UMNO’s crisis is a Malay crisis. And UMNO’s solution to their problem will also be a Malay solution. UMNO wants to lead but its ability to lead will depend on whether their intention to change is sincere. Whether it can be backed by positive change in the face of opposition from the powerful forces within UMNO that wants to maintain its present status quo. I think not. UMNO is deceit. UMNO is greed. UMNO is not our future!

As the Chinese says :
“The harsh winter is gone and spring is around the corner”
….I think that spring is indeed around the corner for all of us. We await the 13th general Election with much impatience!!

by A.Sulaiman

Malaysia's UMNO Scandals - A new set threatens

For weeks, just in time for Malaysia’s United Malays National Organization’s annual general assembly which opened this week, the party has been embroiled in an embarrassing scandal involving a 2007 government decision to spend RM300 million (US$94.3 million)to establish a national feedlot corporation to slaughter as many as 60,000 cattle annually under Islamic halal dietary requirements.

The scandal seems emblematic of a long series of such situations that imperil Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s vow in April 2010 that the government "can no longer tolerate practices that support the behavior of rent-seeking and patronage, which have long tarnished the altruistic aims of the New Economic Policy.”

The National Feedlot Corporation, as it is known, has never slaughtered 10 percent of the projected total and has since scaled back its target to 8,000 head but hasn’t been able to meet that target either. Worse, the company has been losing millions of dollars every year – while pouring funds into an RM10 million condominium in Kuala Lumpur, among other things, and spending RM800,000 for overseas travel and entertainment.

The scandal is doubly embarrassing because the agreement to establish the National Feedlot Corporation, made when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister, went to the family of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Minister of Women, Welfare and Community Development and head of the women’s wing of Umno. Her husband, Mohamad Salleh Ismail, is the chairman. Her three children are respectively the chief executive officer and executive directors of the company. None had any experience in cattle production or beef supply prior to the establishment of the company.

The report of the NFC’s operations was contained in the 2010 report of Malaysia’s Auditor General, which was delayed for weeks before it was finally released. The scandal has generated tensions inside UMNO, with some reformers demanding that Shahrizat be forced out of her job as minister. However, the leadership has circled the wagons to protect her. In particular, Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister, has said there was no case to be brought against her. Muhyiddin was the agriculture minister in 2006 when the project was approved. Others who have come to her defense are Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, the head of the UMNO Youth Wing.

The National Feedlot scandal is said to have the potential reformers worried because party operatives thought they had the Selangor electorate turned around and that they could take the state back from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat in national elections expected to be called early next year. However, Asia Sentinel has been told, the refusal to hold anybody to account in the feedlot scandal could well turn the tide back against them, especially as other patronage scandals continue to bubble up.

The depth and breadth of the scandals also calls into question moves earlier this year with Najib launching a series of programs to develop bumiputera, or ethnic Malay companies, including allocating an RM2 billion fund for development. In the 2012 budget, Najib also announced the government would allocate RM200 million to guide 1,100 high-performing bumi companies with the potential for listing on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. Critics are concerned that the patronage system will continue unabated. The current UMNO general assembly was hoped to provide a dramatic backdrop for Najib to win back disaffected Malay voters.

For decades, this patronage has involved highway construction and defense contracts and a variety of other government arrangements with UMNO cronies in a plan formulated by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. His ambition was to create a cadre of 100 super-rich bumis who in turn would help rural Malays into prosperity under a konsep payung, or umbrella concept routed through UMNO, much the way he envisioned driving the country into industrialization through massive projects. However, many of the companies eventually collapsed and are being supported by government institutions such as Kazanah Nasional, the country's sovereign investment fund, or the Employee Provident Fund.

Contained in the same 2010 auditor general’s report, for instance, is a passage on the decision to privatize a 77-km stretch of highway from Senai to Desaru on Peninsular Malaysia’s southeastern coast. The land acquisition turned out to have doubled, from RM385 million to RM740.6 million, with the road surface described as “undulating.” The project completion “was not in accordance with specifications, causing damage to the road surface and endangering road users.” The company failed to complete construction within the stipulated period of the contract. However, the construction agreement didn’t specify damages in the event it wasn’t completed. Required maintenance is described as “unsatisfactory.”

The company that won the RM1.7 billion contract is Ranhill Corp. Sdn Bhd., which has long been described as UMNO-linked. It is partly owned by Lambang Optimia Sdn. Bhd. Both are headed by Hamdan Mohamad, described as Malaysia’s “water baron,” who operates several utilities and power companies. He was one of several ethnic Malay businessmen who followed former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s vow to take Malaysian companies overseas. Another shareholder is YPJ Corp. Sdn Bhd., an arm of the Johor State Government, and yet another appears to be UMNO itself, which owns a minority share through an account at Public Bank Bhd., according to records. Ranhill has had a lackluster two to three years, capped by disaster earlier in 2011 when its Libyan operations were caught between the Muammar Qaddafi forces and those of the Libyan rebels aided by NATO air strikes.

Also, earlier this year, Deftech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-Hicom, won a contract without an open tender to produce and deliver 237 eight-wheeled armored personnel carriers to the Ministry of Defense. DRB-Hicom is 55 percent owned by Etika Strategi Sdn. Bd., which is wholly owned by billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al Bukairy, one of Mahathir’s targeted bumiputras and a man who is extremely tight with UMNO. Opposition member Tony Pua complained on the floor of Parliament that the average price of RM29.4 million for each unit compared unfavorably with a Portuguese Army purchase of 363 similar vehicles for the equivalent of RM4.4 million each from the Swiss MOWAG CmBH Corp, Malaysia is paying a 6.6-fold increase over the Portguese purchase. Saudi Arabia, he said, bought 724 such vehicles for the equivalent of RM9.9 million from General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, with Malaysia paying almost three times as much Government officials said the contracts don't compare with each other and that the government is getting more equipment, maintenance, etc. for its money.

“Further research has revealed that DRB-Hicom will be acquiring the AWC technology from a Turkish company – FNSS Defence Systems Inc which manufactures the Pars 8x8 AWV models,” Pua said. “With this deal, Malaysia will be its first foreign customer for this vehicle. What is perhaps of greater alarm is the fact that FNSS has announced that they have sold 257 units of Pars 8x8 AWVs to Malaysia for approximately US$600 million or RM1.83 billion or only RM7.1 million per unit,” Pua said in a prepared statement -- considerably different from what the Malaysians said they bought the vehicles for.

Pua also complained about the cost of six offshore patrol vessels from Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd at RM1 billion each in the aftermath of another total fiasco. The Auditor General, in a 2007 report tabled in Parliament, alleged that a contract to build naval vessels given to PSC-Naval Dockyard, a subsidiary of Penang Shipbuilding & Construction Sdn Bhd, which was owned by another UMNO crony, Amin Shah Omar Shah.

PSC-Naval Dockyard, which was taken over by Boustead, contracted to deliver six patrol boats for the Malaysian Navy in 2004 and complete the delivery in 2007. Those were supposed to be the first of 27 offshore vessels ultimately to cost RM24 billion plus the right to maintain and repair all of the country's naval craft. But only two of the barely operational patrol boats had been delivered by mid 2006. There were 298 recorded complaints about the two boats, which were also found to have 100 and 383 uncompleted items aboard them respectively.

The original RM5.35 billion contract ballooned to RM6.75 billion by January 2007. The auditor also reported that the ministry had paid out RM4.26 billion to PSC up to December 2006 although only Rm2.87 billion of work had been done, an overpayment of Rm1.39 billion, or 48 percent. In addition, Malaysia’s cabinet waived late penalties of Rm214 million. Between December 1999, according to the Auditor General, 14 “progress payments” amounting to Rm943 million despite the fact that the auditor general could find no payment vouchers or relevant documents dealing with the payments.

The auditor general attributed the failure to serious financial mismanagement and technical incompetence stemming from the fact that PSC had never built anything but trawlers or police boats before being given the contract. Once called “Malaysia’s Onassis” by Daim Zainuddin, Amin Shah was in trouble almost from the start, according to a report in Singapore’s Business Times in 2005.

Eventually Boustead PSC was born out of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s dockyard facilities which were to provide ship repairs and maintenance services. Under the corporatization program advocated by the Malaysian Government, the dockyard was set up as Limbungan TLDM, a wholly owned government company. It has modern facilities to meet the maintenance requirements of the Royal Malaysian Navy fleet, from hull repairs to major overhauls and from radar refitting to weapon systems refurbishment.
The six patrol boats have now cost five times what the Royal New Zealand Navy paid for its patrol vessels, bought at only RM210 millon each (NZ$90 million) from BAE Systems, the second largest global defense company.

The irrepressible Raja Petra Kamarudin in early November found that the Philippines was buying Hamilton-class patrol ships from the US that would be deployed to the West Philippine Sea area to secure the country’s natural resources. The latest one is to be transferred by the first or second quarter of next year, to guard energy projects in Malampaya off Palawan.

“Malaysia is going to buy six patrol boats at a total cost of RM6 billion or RM1 billion per patrol boat. Of course, Malaysia’s patrol boats are going to be far advanced and more sophisticated than those of the Philippines who paid only RM31.5 million for theirs,” he wrote. “The Philippines’s patrol boats can only patrol the waters. Malaysia’s patrol boats can…well…patrol the waters.”




Asia Sentinel.com

Malott dares "never cheated" Najib to implement 4 key election reforms - An open letter to PM Najib

You say that Malaysia 's elections are free and fair. Now you have a chance to prove it to the outside world and remove all doubts. And if your party wins, then the Malaysian people - and the world - might finally be convinced.

As a result of the developments on July 9, the world is now paying increased attention to Malaysia .
In particular, we now wonder how free and fair your nation's elections are. We have learned that some of your country's citizens believe that Malaysia needs electoral reform. On July 9, they marched with a coalition called Bersih 2.0, and they called for free and fair elections.

You responded by declaring Bersih illegal and suppressing the 'Walk for Democracy' with overwhelming police force. The world noticed your heavy-handed reaction, and it wondered why a peaceful demonstration calling for fair elections bothered you so much - so much so that you were willing to risk Malaysia 's international reputation - and give your country and yourself a major black eye.

When you returned from your visit to Europe, you declared that Malaysia 's elections truly are free and fair, and that Umno has never cheated in any election.
I am glad to hear that.

Because it means that in Malaysia 's next general elections, you have nothing to hide.
Governments that manipulate elections have lots to cover up. But you say that your elections are free and fair, so that means you have nothing to be afraid of showing to all of us in the outside world, not to mention your own people.

Therefore, I am sure that you are willing to readily agree to the following proposals:

1) Allow international groups to observe your elections. Based on your assertions, they will find nothing amiss, and their reports will give credibility to Malaysia 's election results.

2) Allow observers from all political parties to witness the postal balloting that takes place on military bases. For years, the opposition has said that something is amiss. But since you say that Umno never cheats, I am sure that they will find nothing wrong, and you will be vindicated.

3) Let's put an end to all the accusations about phantom voters by using a simple, effective and cheap solution - indelible ink.

Your Elections Commission wants a super-sophisticated biometric system, but there is no way it can be in place by then - and many people worry that it can be manipulated. Indelible ink works - just ask the world's largest democracy, India . I don't think anyone has ever disputed the results of India 's elections in over 60 years.

4) Finally, let RTM be truly independent, like the BBC and NHK and the public broadcasting systems in Australia , France , Germany , and elsewhere in the world. RTM does not belong to Umno. It belongs to the people. As long as RTM - funded by all the people of Malaysia - acts as the propaganda arm of the 25 percent of Malaysians who voted for Umno, no one can believe that Malaysia's elections are fair and free.

So, my dear Prime Minister, it's all very simple. You say that Malaysia 's elections are free and fair. Now you have a chance to prove it to the outside world and remove all doubts. And if your party wins, then the Malaysian people - and the world - might finally be convinced.

If you refuse these suggestions, then the doubts will linger, and your assertions about the honesty of Malaysia 's election will continue to be questioned.





John Malott - for US Ambassador to Malaysia

MIC exist to serve UMNO's political interest

MIC president wants to mainstream Indians through UMNO but its UMNO through its racial policies keep the various Malaysian races sub streamed. After being rejected by Malaysian Indians in March 2008, MIC is trying to reposition but their political master UMNO couldn’t be bothered about their political predicament. It’s Ketuanan Melayu mindset of UMNO that MIC must handle to reinvent itself. UMNO benefited from Malaysian Indians labor and sweat and later chucked them to ghettos and low cost flats. MIC has not learned from past mistakes. The incorrigible Dato G.Palanivel and MIC diehards are still counting on racist UMNO to rescue Malaysian Indians. UMNO will not lift a finger to help Malaysian Indians. All the sweat words of 1Malaysia are only to secure Indian votes.
Prime Minister started enticing Malaysian Indians directly with handouts and feel good sweet words like 1Malaysia but no policy change to accommodate Malaysian Indians into the mainstream bureaucracy. A few well established organizations received a few million Ringgits from the Prime Minister Office but the families in slum areas and low cost flats received nothing. These folks will only received RM50 hamper during by elections, if they have one. Even if the prime minister agrees to give out of political expediency, the bureaucracy will not support. The annual PSD scholarship award to SPM students this year, is crystal clear evidence that nothing has changed even after the march 2008 election set back. UMNO has not changed therefore it has to be got rid of.

After all the big talk that Tamil schools get bigger allocation from ministry education, there is no change on the ground. Many schools do not have proper infrastructure to operate as schools. In Selangor, the 97 Tamil schools are appealing to state government for classrooms, tables, chairs, computers, toilets etc. besides requesting to pay initial school fees for Tamil school students. While some schools get tables and chairs from ministry of education many others don’t. The Selangor state government started building preschool classes after 2008 and now the ministry of education wants to build. There is no policy with regards to Tamil school in education of ministry. It’s all vote buying at the end of the day.

Tamil schools were the political base far too long for MIC. This stranglehold of MIC has made many Tamil schools headmasters and teachers fearful, subdued and find fault among their own community itself. MIC and its cohorts in Tamil schools blame the community and not UMNO for its shortcomings and various social problems. I can see changes within Tamil schools in Selangor. But of course changes will take time and by that time other community will have moved far ahead. Therefore the gap between Indian community and other communities will remain.

Without any change in the socio-political framework, what up-streaming is MIC president talking about? It’s all hot air and empty talk to please their political masters. In private they too complain about UMNO. MIC is beholden to UMNO far too long for it to change. The Prime Minister with his own small Indian affairs department within his office is approaching the Indian community directly. MIC is only needed to be the go along and front face for the prime minister’s direct approach. Indian community is not the Indian chamber of commerce, divine life society, Temple of fine arts, Malayalee or Telegu associations, but the hundreds of thousands of dwellers in PPR flats, low cost flats, squatters in slum and other struggling working people who need scholarships for their children, job opportunities, income generating openings etc. It’s they who dump BN and not the elite business and cultural and religious organizations. The handout and empty promises during by elections are not indicators of Indians votes moving towards BN. MIC/BN and can fool them sometimes but not all the time.




Senator S.Ramakrishnan

Why no Indian-majority seat? The manner in which the country or the total electorate has been divided into electoral constituencies over the years, has cruelly and crucially affected the Indian electoral strength.

Electoral constituencies in Malaysia are determined in two steps. First, the apportionment of parliamentary constituencies among the various states; and second, the delineation of both parliamentary and state constituencies in each state.The ruling party controls the apportionment among states through amendments to Article 46 of the Federal Constitution. The Election Commission then delineates the apportioned constituencies. As there is a lack of specification of the rules governing the EC on this particular function, the numerous delineation exercises that have been conducted in Malaysia since Merdeka have been carved in particular to favour the ruling Umno government.

In this discriminatory process, the third largest race in the country consisting of more than two million people have ended up been denied and do not have a single constituency of being the majority.

This has been the single biggest contributory factor that has led the Indians in this country to having the lowest demographic index among all races in Malaysia. Even though there are several Indian elected representatives in Parliament as well as in state assemblies, the very fact that they are elected from constituencies where Indians are only a minority, they are in truth toothless to highlight or champion gross marginalisation and discrimination policies of the Indians by the government of the day as they are dependent on the majority communities mainly the Malays and Chinese in their respective constituencies.

Constituency delineation has two aspects that can affect electoral outcomes: the distribution of the total electorate among constituencies (apportionment) and the determination of constituency boundaries (districting). Both have been exploited for partisan political advantage by the Umno government and are common and effective forms of electoral abuses that have been implemented to shortchange the Indian population in Malaysia to become “voiceless” in the ballot.

The government, through the EC, has delineated constituencies with unequal electorates (ie mal-apportionment) to favour themselves with more Malay majority supporters in the smaller constituencies. The constituency boundaries have also been drawn to favour Umno and disadvantage the Indian community, a practice commonly known as gerrymandering.

Worsens racial polarization
The manner in which the country or the total electorate has been divided into electoral constituencies over the years, has cruelly and crucially affected the Indian electoral strength outcome under plurality election.

The bias application of rural weightage, which since 1973 has been constitutionally left to the discretion of the EC has also gravely contributed in rendering the Indian vote powerless. This has aggravated the Indian political dilemma, heightened perceptions of political inequalities particularly for the Indians and worsened racial polarization among Malaysians.

It is indeed shocking and very “backward” to note that while Indians reside in large numbers in many areas like Sungai Petani, Padang Serai, Batu Kawan, Nibong Tebal, Ipoh Barat, Bagan Datoh, Teluk Intan, Tanjung Malim, Sungai Siput, Klang, Kota Raja, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Langat, Kapar, Sepang, Kelana Jaya, Teluk Kemang, Rasah, Cameron Highlands and Lembah Pantai, the EC has not seen it fit to carve out even a single Indian majority constituency but is able to bend over backwards and create Malay majority constituencies like in Putrajaya.

Perlis for example has 15 state assembly seats having less than 9,600 voters consisting mainly Malay Muslims. Putrajaya has only a miserable 5,096 voters but consisting of 95% Malay Muslim majority.

The Indians voters number more than 715,000 but have zero number of Indian majority constituencies. Sabah voters number 802,000 but have 25 parliamentary and 60 state seats. Sarawak voters number 886,000 but have 31 parliamentary and 71 state seats.
The Orang Ulu’s that form just 0.005% of the Malaysian population have four majority state seats crafted and created specially for them. They even have a parliamentary seat (Baram) having 42.8% Orang Ulu’s with a smaller voter composition of 24,398 in total.
The Indians for that matter in comparison consists of 8% of the Malaysian population but have zero Indian majority constituencies. Very “backward” indeed!

Others give voice to minorities
All over the world, democracy is preserved and enhanced by giving a “voice” to the minorities through the ballot by providing constitutional legislative reserve seats so that their legitimate interests will be protected and not drowned by the majority, except in Malaysia.

In Singapore the Group Representative Constituencies (GRC) provides for mandatory Malay and Indian candidates to be listed to total about one third of the total Singapore parliamentary constituencies with the view that minority interests will be protected.
In the Republic of India, the minority Anglo Indians have been granted two reserved Lower House of parliament (Lok Sabha) seats.

In Lebanon, Belgium, Cyprus and even in Zimbabwe, communal rolls and special electoral requirements to accommodate the representation of cultural groups based on religion or language are in existence to protect minority interests.

Nowhere in the whole world are there any civilized democracy practicising nation where the third largest race consisting of 8% of the population but do not even have a single constituency having a majority of its race.

Selangor has the highest concentration of Indians in the country. More than one third of the Indian population in Malaysia resides in the state. However since 1974, through two successive delineation exercises in 1984 and 1994, the difference between the actual parliamentary seats allocated versus the number of parliamentary seats that Selangor should have been allocated has been reduced systematically from -3 to -4, the worst in the entire Peninsular Malaysia!

Based on all these factors and looking at the current state of more than 70% of the Indians in this country marginalised and living in poverty having the lowest demographic index amongst all the races in Malaysia due to no proper representation without fear or favour at the highest level, the Human Rights Party proposed to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform that thee be at least 53 constituencies where Indians make up a significant majority of voters.

It is because the voter make-up in present state and parliamentary constituencies make the Indian voters the minority and as such their rights are not championed in the assembly houses.

I am not proposing Indian representatives to be elected but merely Indian majority seats be created so that all the woes of the Malaysian Indians will be highlighted at the justified gravity levels of their grievances.

I would even go so far as to propose for a Malay-Muslim representative be elected in such a Indian majority created constituency to give it a truly “multi racial” image in the very same manner as how some falsely claim, Indian representatives being elected in Malay-Muslim majority constituencies as being “multi racial”.




P Uthayakumar is the pro-tem secretary-general of the Human Rights Party.

The fate of Malaysian Indians lies in the hand of Pakatan Rakyat with its colour-blind policy

Out of 30 cabinet ministers in the Federal Government, 23 of them are Malays from UMNO, which is 77% of the cabinet ministers. There is only one cabinet minister appointed from MIC that is S. Subramaniam. S. Subramaniam is the sole Malaysian Indian cabinet minister and the sole appointment only constitutes 3% of the cabinet ministers.
With the appointment of G. Palanivel as the second Malaysian Indian cabinet minister appointed from MIC, the percentage of Malaysian Indian ministers will subsequently increase from three percents to six percents. Is Najib bringing us back to Tun Razak's time? Not really so.

When UMNO cabinet ministers still form a substantial 74% even with the appointment of G. Palanivel as full cabinet minister, the way cabinet works will continue to be as usual as before.

Therefore, the statement from Najib that "he is bringing us back to Tun Razak's time with two Indian cabinet ministers" is quite untrue in the sense that it is not the same cabinet line-up like Tun Razak's time. Even so, UMNO's 74% dominance in the cabinet is also questionable when the UMNO only contributes 56% of the total number of BN's MPs in Dewan Rakyat.

The fate of Malaysian Indians does not depend on such number games but Pakatan Rakyat's colour-blind policy. The problems that Malaysian Indian community is facing must be viewed as Malaysian problems and our problems. The problems that they are facing cannot be pushed aside as if the problems are only within the community itself and will not affect others. Such mentality must be discarded immediately.

For example, there are people talking about high poverty rate and the marginalization of poor working class Indian families to the extent that young Malaysian Indians from such brackground, who are mainly school drop-outs with little education, become gangsters and involve in criminal activities. Have we ever thought helping the community to improve their livelihood, schooling conditions and even their spiritual needs instead of pushing it as the problems of the community?

The community has heard many power-packed speeches from the past and present leaders. Unfortunately the community was disappointed once and again. To put salt into wounds, Najib The prime minister yesterday even said there must be "quid pro quo" between Barisan Nasional BN component party MIC and the ruling coalition if both wished to benefit from their relationship as "loyal friends". He claimed that "there must be an understanding", that the "MIC must deliver first, then BN will deliver".

Such statement is no different from Najib's infamous "You help me, I help you" statement made during Sibu by-election in 2010. Can we imagine that the fate of 1.9 million Malaysian Indians rely solely on barter trade made between Najib and Palanivel?

The community does not require a wishlist like what is proposed by G. Palanivel. What they require is a comprehensive plan to place the community into mainstream development, possessing the competitive edge and ability to face immediate and future challenges. Pakatan Rakyat is working hard on this with our limited resources not only for the Indians but also for the poor and marginalized Malaysians. The "Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor" (MES) policy by Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state government is a reflection of our sincerity to uplift the living standard of the poor and marginalized Selangor people including poor Indians living either in urban areas, estates or plantations.

The way forward for Malaysian Indians can no longer rely on the race-based barter trade between Najib and Palanivel. Instead, it must be based on colour-blind policy.




Lau Weng San, DAP Selangor State Organizing Secretary & SA for Kampung Tunku

Akta Himpunan 2011 untuk sekat pembangkang – Parlimen Jerman

Ahli Parlimen Jerman, Dr Thomas Gambke, menyifatkan Akta Himpunan Aman 2011 sebagai tindakan tidak tahu malu kerajaan Umno untuk menyusahkan pembangkang di Malaysia.

“Akta Himpunan Aman akan menghalang protes jalanan di Malaysia dan kebebasan bersuara akan disekat. Ini adalah satu tindakan tidak tahu malu untuk menyusahkan pembangkang.



“Undang-undang itu diluluskan majoriti kerajaan dalam jangka masa singkat tanpa sebarang perdebatan di Parlimen. Pembangkang meninggalkan Parlimen sebagai tanda protes.

“Sebarang himpunan di masa depan akan memerlukan notis 10 hari, had umur minima 21 tahun untuk penganjur dan mereka yang melanggar peraturan ini akan didenda maksimum RM20 ribu,” kata Dr Thomas Gambke.

Dr Thomas Gambke adalah Ahli Parlimen Jerman dari Parti Alliance 90/The Green dan merupakan Pengerusi Kumpulan Persahabatan Parlimen dan Negara-negara ASEAN.

Beliau sebelum ini pernah mengeluarkan kenyataan mengutuk perbicaraan Fitnah II dan menggesa agar Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim diberikan lebih ruang dalam media tempatan.
Akta Himpunan Aman 2011 diluluskan pada 29 November 2011 oleh Ahli Parlimen Barisan Nasional. Ia menghalang sebarang bentuk himpunan aman yang tidak dimaklumkan kepada polis terlebih dahulu.



Akta itu sebelum ini menetapkan notis 30 hari perlu diberikan kepada polis sebelum sebarang himpunan aman berlangsung.

Namun, selepas dibantah ramai pihak, keperluan memberi notis itu dipinda kepada 10 hari sahaja.
Mereka yang terlibat dalam himpunan aman itu pula boleh didenda sehingga RM10,000 seorang.

Pada hari sama ia diluluskan, Majlis Peguam diiringi lebih 1,000 peguam berarak ke Parlimen membantah akta tersebut.




Keadilan daily.com

End of a dream: Money politics, dirty politics and Dr M

REPRINT Unless the name on the cover is Mahathir or Badawi, ministerial memoirs would usually be greeted with bated breath.

But the book by Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat that was released on Oct 12 has been causing quite a stir.

He was, after all, the person who controlled for more than a decade what the Malaysian public saw and heard on Government TV and radio channels as Information Minister from 1987 to 1999.

Now, aged 71 and suffering from diabetes and cancer, Tok Mat, as he is known, freely admits that his job was really as a Propaganda Minister.

In his political memoirs, Umno: Akhir Sebuah Impian (Umno: The End of a Dream), he explains how his ministrys campaigns, such as Setia (Loyalty), were actually a response to the Team A versus Team B split in Umno in 1987.

I had to bring Malay loyalty back to Umno. And I had to raise a presumption that anybody who supported (Team B led by Tengku Razaleigh then) was not loyal. I went all out in this psychological warfare,he writes.

The Malays were numb to political arguments ... I needed something that penetrated the heart. I needed a song.

So he wrote one himself: the famous Setia song with its supposedly patriotic lyrics (Demi negara yang tercinta, or For our beloved country, goes the first line) that was broadcast for years especially via the Governments RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia) stations.

Toppling PAS
Tok Mat admits in his book that he first used Information Ministry staff in 1977 on a mission to topple the PAS State Government of Kelantan.

He reveals that later, in 1995, during the Sabah state elections, he sent 500 ministry staff members to campaign for Umno against PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah, which was controlling the state government then).

The officers went to the ground,he explains in fluent English at a recent interview. They rented rooms in villages, they slept and ate like the locals, they gathered information and persuaded the people. This silent propaganda works very well.

Since government machinery is supposed to be neutral, I ask Tok Mat if he considers what he did an abuse of power.

He replies: You could say I abused radio and TV, but it was a privilege I had. I could not depend on TV3, (The New) Straits Times, Berita Harian or Utusan Malaysia because they were then controlled by Anwar Ibrahims boys. I had no choice but to use RTM.

I was asked to bring PBS down. I shut the media off, there were no reports. People didn't know what the Sabah Government was doing, so it looked like they were doing nothing. It was a very dirty tactic,he now admits.

Propaganda King
Tok Mat had his secondary school education at Johor Baru's English College before doing a Bachelor of Arts at Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta.

He tells me that he learnt the basics of propaganda when he was a script writer for Filem Negara (the National Film Board) in the mid 1960s. There was no TV then, so that was the Governments only (way to generate) propaganda,he recalls.

He honed his innate musical ability there and picked up film editing skills too. He later went on to personally devise the melody and lyrics of various songs, including Setia, Syukur and Sejahtera Malaysia, that were used for his nation-building campaigns.

Tok Mat has always had a fondness for oldies by Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, and once even made it to the quarter finals of Radio Singapores talentime singing contest in the 1950s.

Tan Sri can sing and he can play the piano by ear, chips in his wife, Puan Sri Salbiah A. Hamid, who is also at the interview. And he can write. I still keep all his love letters from when we met as teenagers,she smiles.

With these skills, Tok Mat became the chief loyalist and cheerleader for then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose political rivals included Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh and, later, Anwar.

He claims that most Umno people were hedging their bets then: Everybody was half leg here, half leg there, very few were working (100%) for Dr Mahathir. I was totally devoted to him.

I took the fall for Dr M

But then again, he has a chapter in his book that declares I Am Not a Yes Man. In it, he cites how the developers of the Second Link to Singapore, who were Dr Mahathir's friends, were trying to acquire the land of villagers in his constituency at 80 sen per sq ft (psf) so they could resell it at RM17.80 psf! He claims that he spoke up despite Dr Mahathirs anger with him, and helped the villagers secure a better deal.

When the Setia campaign was not sufficient to bring back Malay support to Umno, Tok Mat says his ministry then launched the Semarak campaign in 1988, during which Dr Mahathir had massive meet the people sessions.

I told the police chief, says Tok Mat, I don't want to see any police uniforms around Mahathir, because that looks like we live in a police state. Instead, I gave the policemen Setia T-shirts to wear, so it looked like he was surrounded by the public.

Tok Mats promotion of Dr Mahathir “who certainly had his critics, even in those days“ indirectly made him the most hated man in Malaysia, he says.

In his book, he even acknowledges that people called him the barking dog of the government: When the people hated Dr Mahathir, I became the face of the Government for them to hurl abuse at,he writes.

Better than the expensive foreign consultants

But he took all this as a sign of success because it meant that he had managed to penetrate peoples minds to provoke anger: In the art of propaganda, touching a nerve is very important,he explains.

Tok Mat claims that a sign of Setia's success was that he has personally heard even non-Malays singing the song. As for the Semarak campaign, he says the crowds at Dr M's meet-the-people sessions ranged from 30,000 up to 100,000.

Were civil servants pressured into attending such events?

No,he asserts, nor did we provide transport or give out free T-shirts.

His propaganda might have been successful, but the Government still hired a PR and advertising firm during his tenure to advise on winning popular support. Now in hindsight, he is critical of the move.

I think I was more effective because I understand the culture better. I had 1,000 officers working on the ground giving me feedback. Even Pak Lah (former PM Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) used these foreigners. But what results did these PR people get?

Mistakes

Tok Mats detractors say one of his career missteps took place in May 1999 when many Malays were angry at Umno over the Anwar Ibrahim saga.

Tok Mat alienated non-Malay voters (who were to play a crucial role in returning Barisan Nasional to power in the general elections later that year) with his infamous remark that Anwar's wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was unfit for leadership as she had been educated in Singapore and had darah cap naga (dragon brand blood), an euphemism for Chinese blood or lineage.

No, it wasn't a mistake,says Tok Mat now. Because Anwar wanted Azizah to become Prime Minister. By the way, I am also cap naga. My mother is a Chinese (who was adopted by Malays). So I can talk. I can scold the Chinese and the Malays because I am one of them.

Whether by coincidence or not, Tok Mat was relieved of his ministers post in May 1999 too. However, he writes that this was because forked tongues whispered to Dr Mahathir that he was a secret Anwar supporter.

What I can't forget is the way Dr Mahathir dropped me without any hati budi (grace and gratitude), he writes in the chapter entitled Habis Madu Sepah Dibuang (When the Sweetness is Finished, the Tasteless Part is Thrown Away).

Since then, he has become more critical of his former political master. For instance: We know that Dr Mahathir blamed Pak Lah in all aspects even though the initial problems were caused by he himself. This is the expertise of Dr Mahathir,writes Tok Mat sardonically.

Despite his rather caustic tone, Tok Mat says to me, It may sound like it lah ... but I don't hate Dr Mahathir. I'm not angry with him. I still consider him a great leader of the country.

Money politics became a cancer during Dr M's era
In fact, he leaps to Dr Mahathir's defence when I ask him about other controversial episodes when Dr M was PM.

However, he adds that money politics really became a cancer within Umno during Dr Mahathir's era.

In the old days, the corruption was smaller. If an Umno branch leader did not get a taxi permit, he would dissolve his branch. Now many Umno leaders are busy looking for big projects. That's the success of the NEP (New Economic Policy),he laughs.

More seriously, his book concludes, Umno has jeopardised its image with power grabbing, money politics, bribery and excessive racism by certain leaders.... Umno must reform or I fear the End of the Dream (for the party) will really happen.





The Star

Police 'whitewash' of NFC and Shahrizat is unacceptable - Surendran

I refer to the statement today by Deputy IGP Datuk Khalid Bakar that police investigations have so far not revealed any criminal breach of trust elements in the management of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC). The NFC is managed by Cabinet Minister and Wanita UMNO chief Shahrizat Jalil's husband and three children.

This is a transparent attempt by the national police leadership to perform 'damage control' on behalf of the ruling UMNO party. Why issue such a statement when investigations are still continiuing? It makes no sense for the police to state their conclusions before the end of the investigation. And why make such a statement all of a sudden, just as the high profile UMNO AGM gets underway?

Also surprisingly, the police have confirmed that they have still not recorded any statement from Minister Shahrizat, who is a key figure in NFC controversy. Why are the police avoiding calling in the Minister?

Unprofessional of police not to quizz Shahrizat
Significantly, this blatant police attempt at white-washing NFC and Shahrizat comes just as further embarassing revelations have been made about the NFC fiasco. Yesterday, PKR revealed that NFC had purchased prime Putrajaya land and a luxury car using the RM 250 million loan from public funds.

Coming in the midst of their last AGM before the 13th General Election, these new revelations are a massive blow to UMNO. The police whitewash of NFC is all the more shocking considering the scale of mismanagement and abuse of public funds that has thus far been exposed.

It seems DIGP Khalid Bakar expects the public to believe that there is no criminal wrongdoing by any person, despite public funds being used to purchase luxury condos, overseas trips, luxury cars and prime land.

This shameful statement of Khalid Bakar is further proof of the complete lack of independence and pro-BN stance of the police leadership. We call upon the police leadership, and also the MACC and Attorney General, to bear in mind that they exist to serve the rakyat, and we demand that they discharge their duties professionally and independently.






N Surendran is the PKR vice president and a prominent human rights lawyer

Umno blames DAP for May 13: Another bid to scare the Chinese into voting BN?

It gets worse by the day. As Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno party tries to claw for a lifeline ahead of snap polls in which they are expected to under-perform, its leaders have now turned around and accused the DAP of starting the May 13 racial riots.

Coming hot on the heels of Najib's warning during his speech to the Umno assembly this morning, where he told Malays not to be complacent as "among leaders of the opposition are those who incited slogans to insult Malays that led to the May 13 tragedy," there is suspicion that he was either trying to scare the Chinese into voting BN or plotting a reprisal to cling to power in case his party lost the coming general election.

In fact, May 13 has often been blamed on Najib's father, the second prime minister Abdul Razak, who in a power tussle with first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman had allegedly seized the opportunity to foment a riot in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Till now, analysts point out that the killings were suspiciously limited to Kuala Lumpur, while it should have been natiowide if Razak's claims were true that it was a pent-up outbreak of Malay unhappiness with the Chinese over the perception the Chinese had a bigger share of the economic pie and were always bullying the Malays.

Very afraid of the Pakatan
Najib is widely expected to dissolve Parliament on December 9 and hold snap polls in January. Already, the odds are stacked against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat with widespread phantom voters and vote-rigging processes reported almost on a daily basis. Nonetheless, despite the odds, a major swing is expected in the Pakatan's favour.

At Parliament on Thursday, the ruckus broke out when Umno MP for Lenggong Shamsul Anuar Nasarah objected to criticism from DAP MP for Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang. Kit Siang had rebuked Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin for racist remarks in a "hate speech" made during the Umno annual congress a day ago. Kit Siang also flayed Muhyiddin for accusing DAP of being anti-Muslim.

Quick as shot, Shamsul tried to launch a stinging defense. He accused the DAP of instigating the May 13 incident, where thousands of Chinese were killed by parang-wielding Umno Youth members.

“It is true. May 13, who moved it? May 13, Ipoh Timor. Who moved on May 13?” shrieked Shamsul.

However, he soon ran out of words and began a mantra instead, repeatedly shouting May 13, Ipoh Timor and DAP racist. His words were soon picked up by his BN colleagues. They then accused the DAP of cheating the Malays and lambasted PAS for being under the DAP's thumb.

Umno, a basket case - destroyed by its own leaders
But not only was Umno factually inaccurate, the boorish and uncouth manner in which it hurled its accusations shocked Malaysians.

"They are a gone case, a basket case. The calibre of the Umno MPs is really shocking. How can they be MPs when they are so devoid of the ability to handle intelligent or civil debate," Eddie Wong, a Pakatan Rakyat watcher, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"AS for Najib, he too is beyond redemption. His legacy will be one of being forked tongue, two-faced, duplicitous, tin kosong (empty vessel), saying one thing and doing another and so forth. The recent Assembly Bill is the best example of his hypocrisy."

The Peaceful Assembly Bill was rammed through earlier this week, and though Najib proclaimed it was "revolutionary" and a "giant leap", local civil society inclduing the Bar Council have condemned it. Foreign watchdogs such as LawAsia, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also slammed the Bill as being contrary to democracy.






Malaysia Chronicle

Najib disappoints with self-praising speech: Pakatan bashing, hints again of GE-13

As expected, Prime Minister Najib Razak had little to offer but bombast and bluster during his policy speech for his ruling Umno party. The 2011 Umno general assembly is regarded as a watershed meeting as Najib is expected to call for snap national elections early next year, but even so, all he could do was to bash the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and insist that Umno was the most democratic party in the country.

Najin, the Umno president, repeated his hint that the 13th general election would be held soon, but again failed to give any concrete indication of when Malaysians could expect to go to the polls. His insistence on not giving any advance notice to the opposition is against democratic norms and would be looked at with scorn and contempt in developed democracies.

"It is a disappointing speech, it gives no direction for Umno and only underscores little Umno has changed under Najib. In fact, it is worse now than even under Abdullah Badawi. Or Mahathir Mohamad, where at the very least, there was some underlying economic growth to offset the plunging civil liberties . Now in 2011, Malaysia is not stagnant but actually declining in economic growth and Najib is resorting to blatant lies. How much reform has Umno undertaken, you tell me," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

Malaysia now the worst-off country in ASEAN for freedom of assembly

Jui Meng was referring the centre-piece of Najib's sadly-hollow speech, where he insisted Umno was more democratic than the opposition parties PKR, PAS and DAP.

Ironically, just days ago, Najib went down in history as the leader who turned Malaysia into the worst nation in Southeast Asia by ramming through a controversial Assembly Bill that effectively clamps down on citizens' rights to peaceful gathering to express a point of view. Apart from local politicians, the Bar Council, civil society, international bodies including LawAsia, Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch have condemned the bill as oppressive, against human rights and contrary to democracy.

Yet Najib - in his trademark fashion - completely ignored all these factors, insisting that Malaysia was on track to becoming the world's best democracy thanks to Umno and his administration.

We allow many people in Umno to choose their leaders and Umno is not a party that is afraid of democracy, compared with our competitors. We are not like the opposition parties. In fact, Umno embraces democracy as in the English saying, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, he told the 2011 Umno AGM held at the Putra World Trade Centre on Thursday.

“We have never dominated or intended to dominate other component parties. We are not a racist party, but work towards national development. Furthermore, in PKR, the party president is the wife of the de-facto leader and their eldest daughter becomes the vice-president. We do not need to say anything.

Having walloped his nemesis, Anwar's PKR party, he then took a swipe at the DAP and PAS.

Is it democratic when only branch delegates choose 20 central committee members and then they in turn select the party leaders? Certainly, this is not representing the will of the members," said Najib, referring to DAP.

"This person (mursyidul am) is more powerful than the president, he added, referring to PAS.

Back-biting bluster

Many Malaysians found it strange that with Malaysia on the cusp of either a new beginning or a major implosion, Najib would choose to focus on what happened in his opponents' parties, compounding the view that he had run out of ideas and had no more room to move. As such, the haste to push through the Assembly Bill to deter street protests should his BN coalition be seen to falsely claim victory at the GE-13.

"It is a shock that at such a critical time, Najib wants to compare his party with ours. Either he is feeling very insecure or he knows a lot of Umno members have been signalling their wish to come on board Pakatan. But to answer him, how can Umno be more democratic than PKR? We have a one-member one-vote system, whereas only a miniscule percentage of Umno members get to vote directly for their leaders. They have to go through delegates who will surely take advantage of money politics and vote the way the elite wants," chided Jui Meng.

"As for PAS' Nik Aziz, their internal structure is that the Spiritual Adviser is higher than the party president. So what is Najib talking about? As Umno president and PM, he should be telling his party how they will pull Malaysia out of the economic rut, how they will clean the party from corruption and not defend corruption. He will tell all of Malaysia what a grand party Umno is by envisioning a future of real democracy and hope for all the people especially the poor and down-trodden. Not back-bite and bitch!"

Game changers or mere verbose?

Najib also resorted to fancy terms like "game changers" but gave little explanation of what it really meant or entailed, other than that it included the new media, new political reality and new thinking amongst voters.

However, as he defended Umno's ways in the same breath, his comments were waved off as mere verbose intended to sound nice but not meant to be acted on. It was indeed telling while Najib urged 'unpopular' candidates not to cling onto their seats, he did not once touch on core issues that have wrecked Umno - corruption and power in the hands of the elite.

The 2011 AGM comes as Wanita chief Shahrizat Jalil is accused of abuse of power and her family of corruption in the RM250 million NFC debacle. Yet a day ago, Umno Youth was urged to defend Shahrizat, rather than advise her to undergo a complete probe to clear her name. That Umno was resorting to abusing the institutions especially the police was clear, when Deputy IGP Khalid Bakar suddenly issued a statement this morning that there were no 'elements' of corruption in the police probe on NFC so far, prompting cynicism that Khalid was just being a lackey for Najib to save face for Umno.

Not a word on corruption as M'sia sinks on graft index
Critics said it was also strange that while Najib professes a desire for a new and better Malaysia, for his own party, he does dare to even mention the 'C' word - referring to corruption.

Meanwhile, to underscore how much damage the rot in Umno is causing the country is news that Malaysia had plummeted again in the internationally-followed Corruption Perception Index to 60 from 56 last year. This is the 3rd straight year Malaysia was rated as being more corrupt than the past year.

"We must realise, if Umno still fails to understand and appreciate the factors that become the 'game changers'... and not take steps to re-frame the 'game plan', which is our planned movement, then we will become tragedy. If Umno does not understand the new realities of the national political landscape, how are Umno and BN going to succeed? Secondly, the new media," said Najib.

"Like it or not, Umno should take control of the new media because today, at this moment, it can determine victory or defeat. It can level out the playing field as well as make a battle unequal. Thirdly, Umno should also appreciate that there is new thought among all segments of the electorate, so we must attract their support. Umno cannot have the attitude or be seen as insolent and arrogant, or else the voters and the people will shun us."

Not racist or crowning hypocrisy

But perhaps Najib's 'crowning' hypocrisy was when he declared to the Umno assembly that Umno was not racist. This, when he did not even rebuke his information chief Ahmad Maslan, who just days ago had uttered some of the most racist comments so far for this year.

Umno is in reality a catalyst of the co-operative spirit between races which finally created social stability and brought about national harmony,Najib said. Umno was willing (even) back then to vote candidates not from their own race, for a bigger purpose, for winning elections, forming a government and then independence."

Ahmad Maslan, a deputy minister in Najib's department and the Pontian MP, had lamented the loss of political space to non-Malay leaders as unacceptable. He especially picked on the Chinese and warned that should the Pakatan do well enough in GE-13 to force a 'hung' Parliament, Malays stood to loose their language rights and Islam would be sidelined by the Christians.

Critics hit Najib hard for "daring to make such a thick-skinned claim" that Umno was not racist.

"This must be the biggest joke of all. No wonder Umno has to cheat at the polls. They keep twisting and turning the truth rather admit and correct their wrongdoings. It gets worse and worse each year," said Jui Meng.

"It is no point talking about 'game changers' or using fancy jargon. Just go back to basics. Serve the people well, listen to what they want, recognize it's what the people and not what the Umno elite wants that counts. Sweep out corruption although it may be a bit too late. It will engulf us and bankrupt us. Punish racists in Umno including Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir Mohamad before insisting that Umno is not racist. Then we will say, you are not a hypocrite!"






Malaysia Chronicle.com