Instant citizenships for votes: How low can the BN go?

So, Malaysians want freedom? Freedom from an oppressive government which has taken us for a ride all these years? So, do Malaysians want change, a more progressive society, meritocracy, social freedoms, total democracy, freedom of expression and be 1st class citizens? Do we want unity, racial blindness, justice and a corrupt free government? Sorry, baby! Fat hopes and dream on. Yes, you heard me. Dream on and fat hopes!

You know why it is not going to happen. Not for a thousand years, at least? Because Malaysians are too complacent to make the change. So what are we waiting for? Christmas?

The recent evidence uncovered by PAS shows a BN plot to stuff the electoral rolls with foreigners who have been given instant citizenship. This itself warns us that BN is not going to take the General Election for granted. Due to all their fumbling and flip flops, Najib with Rosmah tagging sheepishly behind, have been given clear signals that their time is almost up. This is why they are trying to make sure they win by a huge margin so that their enemies in UMNO cannot unseat them.

This new evidence has undoubtedly caused a commotion amongst the people, who are shocked at the BN's audacity. Pakatan Rakyat is calling for an emergency parliamentary sitting to probe the issue of non-citizens being registered as voters by the Election Commission. Some say it may be the tip of the iceberg. As usual, the EC says nothing suspicious is going on. But when the government says that nothing is going on, it means that something is going on!

Bolehland voting
The Election Commission is registering every Tom, Dick and Harry who is eligible to vote. Doesn’t matter whether they are red or yellow, black or white, as long as they hold a Mykad, then they are welcome to vote. Remember, this Malaysia. There is nothing much that we can do about it. Right?

Ahhh...caught you there. Didn't I say Malaysians are too complacent and BN will get back two-thirds majority in Parliament because the people are simply to lazy to bother?

Malaysia is doomed to the dogs. Chinese and Indians, book your tickets 'home'. Instead, there will be more 'Bumiputras' arriving at our Malay shores. Current Bumis have to share the cake with the rest of the new ones. The non-Bumis who are willing to stay can of course keep the scraps. It is the least we can do, give you all the crumbs, so enjoy while we can still spare them!

Are the govt numbers reliable?
The government is saying that 2 million illegal immigrants will be registered. But when has the government been truthful with figures? Who knows what the actual number is?

Also, do not be mistaken. The current registration exercise is not to give the foreigners a Malaysian citizenship. It is merely an Amnesty to register them, so that we can track their movements and allow them to legally work in this country for a certain period. After this period, we will deport them when their contracts are finished. So please do not panic, so goes the mantra from Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

But in the first place, what has our Immigration department been doing all this while that we are unable to detect 2 million foreigners entering this country? Did these immigrants employ stealth technology that our country’s defences are unable to detect? Is that the reason why it is so important for us to procure submarines and jetfighter technology to guard our defenceless shores?

Secondly, what is is to prevent these 'legalised' workers from running off when their contracts are due so as to escape deportation? This is the known pattern in other countries with high illegal foreign workforce. So the third issue remains, why now? Why suddenly Amnesty when GE-13 is at our doorstep knowing that this is a problem that will keep recurring through the years and there is no solution except a long-term plan?

Malays hit most, will they be forced to compete with the foreign workers?
Then, there is the worry of whether there will be enough jobs for us and for our children? And the most affected are the Malays. Now do you understand why PAS and PKR are screaming and shouting about it!

Malays must ask the BN government, won't they need to compete with the foreign workers for better pay now? Is Malaysia so economically prosperous that we can absorb another 2 million workers? Yet at the same time, BN is so ready to chase away the rich Chinese and Indians who have lived with us for decades and even centuries. Some are so fed up they take their assets overseas in case extremists like Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa compound their property. What is UMNO really doing? Have the UMNO members thought about it? Are they protecting the Malays or their own elite leaders?

Later, when the law is passed for a minimum salary scale, every legal immigrant will be able to enjoy higher pay. If they send back RM500 a month home, that will be about RM1billion capital flight each month or RM12 billion a year. Does that make economic sense? Can any economist out there please comment?

Already RM888billion has gone missing, although that was for corruption. This is foreign repatriation of salaries earned by foreign workers and should be covered by the higher GDP or higher economic activity that the workers bring in.

The real problem is when they have no jobs and the current set of corrupt government official keep siphoning funds out of Malaysia - it is this double whammy that may kill us all.

Push the PANIC button, NOW
So if there is just a grain of truth that these workers will be registered to vote in the next election, it is already time to push the panic button. Immediately.

The thing is, what do we do? How do we help ourselves? Has the Pakatan Rakyat any back-up plan to counter this offensive, or are they just going to sit back and complain about the sad state of affairs? What about Bersih? Yes, it has been outlawed. But the fight to press for clean elections has not and cannot be outlawed. So first thing first, regroup so that Malaysians have a focal point to turn to. Then strategise.

Some believe that the new allegations are a blessing in disguise. If Prime Minister Najib Razak does not react responsibly, then it may trigger the Tsunami we have been waiting for, as more Malaysians become disillusioned with the current regime’s treasonous tactics to stay in power.






Iskandar Dzulkarnain
Malaysia Chronicle

The rot within the Election Commission, NRD and Immigration Dept

In the face of denials by the Election Commission and the National Registration Department on irregularities in voter registrations and the issuing of citizenship to illegals, one has to wonder; what would have happened if no-one had taken the time to check on the registration listings and the status of citizenship of certain people?

Would the irregularities have gone unnoticed? And if they have been irregular practices - how long have they been in place?

Does this not smell of the infamous Project IC of the 1990s?

Again, it began with UMNO
Project IC is the name used to describe the allegation of systematic granting of citizenship to immigrants (whether illegal or legal immigrants) by giving them identity documents known as IC (identity card), and subsequently, MyKad.

The project is a complex matter involving certain political parties as well as various government agencies including the Election Commission of Malaysia, the National Registration Department and the Immigration Department, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The suspicions and allegations on the existence of Project IC began around the mid-1990s.

The project, in its widespread and intensive form, is suspected to have begun in the early 1990s after the entry of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) into Sabah politics.

Throughout the 1990s, several government officers were arrested under the Internal Security Act for their involvement in Project IC. A Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity was set up to hear testimonies of some of the detainees in February 2007. The committee was chaired by Sabah Member of Parliament Bernard Dompok. On May 16, 2007, Dompok quit as chairman of the committee over disagreements on the function and scope of the committee, in particular, over the refusal of the National Registration Department to appear before the committee. Later on, the findings of the committee was never made public.

Has a rehashed Project IC been reborn and using the latest technology to aid it?

Some wait a lifetime, others need only 4 hours
In the case of the individual called Mismah, who had her PR status upgraded to Full Citizenship in the space of four hours, Election Commission head Abdul Aziz Yusof attributed the problem to technical negligence.

Elaborating on the issue, he said he had contacted the NRD and was told that its online database had not been updated alongside the Agency Link-Up System (ALIS).

"(It was only) when I called (them) that they realised they have not updated the names online," Abdul Aziz added.

The NRD online database - used by the public to verify their status and details - is different from ALIS, which is the reference point for the EC in registering voters, he said.

If the NRD only knew that their online databases were not updated when the EC chairman called them, what were their ICT staff doing the whole time before the phone call?

And the EC explanation does not explain how Mismah could have her status changes within the same day during a four hour span. The changes to Mismah status were made before the call by the EC chairman to NRD. Thus, the ICT team was updating its record before the call. Does this mean that the main database had already had the changes made, and thus, this database has different information as compared to the online databases?

How many more are there?
And how many more Mismahs do we have? The records held by the NRD are now a point of contention? How sure are we that the information contained within the NRD databases are credible and true?

And with the impending use of the biometric system by the EC, one still wonders; how sure are we that the biometric information is coming from the correct database and how correct will the data be?

The legalisation of immigrants also uses biometrics as a means of registration, and this database of immigrants may be far more complete than the NRD or EC databases. Yet, even this to is looked upon suspiciously. How sure are we that the records from the Immigration Department’s databases will not make its way into the NRD databases?

Farce
Bear in mind, the EC still has to collect finger-print information of current and existing voters. The easiest method is to tap into the NRD database but not all those registered in the NRD database are registered voters.

Citizens still have to register to vote and a vetting process still has to be complied with. Thus, there will be a lot of activity to update and keep current the databases under the control of the EC, how sure are we that during this period of activity, manipulated information does not makes its way in?

The EC assertion that everything is transparent and clean is a farce. The EC must now convince the public that their right, as citizens of Malaysia, is not tainted nor super-ceded by the needs of a ruling government desperate to stay in power and willing to do anything to accomplish the task - even to the point of selling citizenships to illegals in order to buy votes






Maclean Patrick
Malaysia Chronicle