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.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
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
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
Friday, December 02, 2011
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
“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
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
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