Haris Ibrahim reveals Anwar Ibrahim's true colours

Today when I read Art Harun’s Zul Noordin and PKR – the lame and the lamer in The Malaysian Insider and Salbiah Ahmad’s Adding grey to Article 3 in Malaysiakini, I thought Anwar Ibrahim has gone too far in allowing this renegade Kulim Wonder a free hand in proposing monumental legislation changes according to his (the latter's) personal prejudice, specifically to the Kahuna of all, our Malaysian Constitution.

Art Harun commented: I am even more astounded — not to mention bitterly angry — that PKR has not seen it fit to read the riot act in full DTS 6.1 mode to Zul Noordin.

Well, I'm mortified ... because PKR is not just the Kulim Wonder or Anwar Ibrahim. What happen to the rest of its leadership?

We know that Dr Syed Husin had wanted to disciplined the Kulim Wonder for his act of thuggery at the Bar Council’s interfaith forum but we also heard Anwar Ibrahim was reluctant to bring him to heel and swept the entire issue under the carpet.

The reason for Anwar Ibrahim’s reluctance to pull the Kulim Wonder into party line may be found in Haris Ibrahim’s powerful post The End Days of PKR in Sabah.

It tells you in no uncertain terms what sort of person Anwar Ibrahim is, and indeed as kaytee has always asserted, has been.

No, I don’t need to say I’ve been vindicated because one doesn’t need any vindication when one knows what he’s talking about. In fact in more than 1 way, I feel sad to be proven right by an independent blogger.

And I hope my matey Antares, who criticised me for being ‘all head and no heart’ where Anwar is concerned, reads Haris' post. Matey, sunshine doesn’t beam from Anwar’s 6 O’clock la, au contraire.

May a sweetie whom I adore, gasp gawd omigosh, also do so.

And let the Hindu temple bells ring to note my lamentation at the so many gullible. But hey, it’s never ever too late to wake up!

The season for division

Is it the nature of the beast?

For political parties to split …

… because of strong (self centered) personalities? Or the pie is too small?

There is a saying that there is even honour among thieves, but alas, not so with pollies ….. prob because they are worse than thieves wakakaka.

The Godzilla of all party splits had to be the Titanic struggle between Mahathir and Ku Li. Ku Li was the PM we didn’t have.

The following one between Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim didn’t quite reach Olympic proportion, prob for the reason the greater majority of UMNO factions were actually glad (and perhaps had plotted) to see Anwar ousted. Yes, the Anwar faction was deeply feared in UMNO for its feral take-no-prisoner mentality.

Next, the MCA was (and may still be) in centrifugal flight until the recent ‘greater unity’ plan brought Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek together, … well, at least for the immediate period.

But this truce may not be long in tenure unless Chua Soi Lek’s faction sees it too has a long term stake in the party’s future.

Lurking behind all this is MCA newly minted deputy president Liow who is now seen by both blocs (especially Ong Tee Keat’s loyalists) as opportunistically treacherous.

And there is that mysterious 3rd force which is more likely those previous leaders ousted by a combination of Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek’s factions, the Ong Ka Chuan group.

Though Liow has been accused as being behind the 3rd force, I suspect he is not but had merely exploited a unique situation following the 10-10 EGM to abandon his so-called place ‘beside’ Ong Tee Keat and went for broke to climb over a besieged Ong. He and a few others in the MCA central council decided that Ong ought to be the sole sacrifice.

Aiyoyo, the MIC had recently considered a MCA-style EGM to get rid of Samy but alas, the man is just too powerful to dislodge, so as usual the wannabe but kiasu MIC revolutionaries will continue to suck up to his whims and pleasure.

However, S Subramaniam has come to realize he lacks the mass to overcome the Vellu obstacle, so poor old Subi is considering leaving MIC with his bloc. But being a realist he knows that outside MIC, an Indian based party doesn’t have much room to manoeuvre apart from annoying Taikoh, UMNO. So ... how man?

Much as Najib made a play on Makkal Sakthi, prob to give MIC a kick in the pants, I don’t believe the party with the hijacked name will have much future ..... maybe at most a Datukship for Thanenthiran who’ll end up like Koh TK, a powerless so-called leader heading a near-dead party which is now a pale shadow of what the 1969 Gerakan Party was.

But Koh TK (and Gerakan) is still useful to Najib and UMNO, to (1) prevent migration of its members to either PKR or DAP, or even, god forbid, MCA, and (2) to have a stooge to forestall, frustrate and f*up MCA as and when required. UMNO doesn’t like a too-powerful and uppity MCA – thus it uses Gerakan as and when required to divide and conquer the pro-BN Chinese community.

PPP? Poor Kayveas must be livid with rage but biting his tongue as Najib ignores him by keeping non-BN member Murugiah as a deputy minister. Like Subi of MIC, Kayveas knows that that outside BN, an Indian based party (though PPP purports to be multi-racial) doesn’t have much room to manoeuvre.

Kayveas had long realized the PPP is nothing more than a pimple on the BN’s backside (note: D.R Seenivasegam rolling in his grave), and was intelligent enough to attempt merging his PPP with Gerakan but alas, his gambit was spurned, diplomatically by Koh TK and less so by Lim KY wakakaka.

He had hoped to be a VP of Gerakan-PPP and through that, continue to offer himself as a federal candidate and eventually a full minister in the BN cabinet.

Quo Vadis Kayveas?

Then PAS? Tok Guru Pak Haji Datuk Nik Aziz has decided that ‘nuff is ‘nuff, and that pro-UMNO Pak Haji Hadi Awang and his henchmen have to go.

Perhaps TGNA wants to save the Pakatan which has been seriously and deliberately undermined in Selangor by Hadi’s man Hassan Ali? Perhaps TGNA cannot stand the very thought of PAS people lying in bed with the enemy?

But the Ulamas are resisting his demand for an EGM, knowing they had a lucky escape in the last party election when the Erdogen faction was split. Now it'll once again be a confrontation between the Erdogen faction led by TGNA against the Ulama faction led by ‘Malay unity’ champion Pak Haji Hadi Awang.

Will the party split asunder? TGNA has openly stated he is quite prepared to see that so long as he can get rid of the pro-UMNO faction (mainly the group collectively called the Ulamas).

And in dear PKR, we see glimpses of new thoughts that maybe Anwar Ibrahim may not be indispensable after all – Zaid Ibrahim is gradually gaining stature day by day by his dignified demeanor.

There is also new intra party schism caused by the ambition of Azmin Ali, and the reluctance of Anwar Ibrahim to curb his favourites like Azmin and the Kulim Wonder.

And an obituary note on Hindraf:

Here lies a once great movement
That had wanted its people to be free
It’s now itself no longer independent
Shackled by its own leader’s hubris

'Tis the season for division.

Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Penang

A public service message from my blogging matey Lucia Lai of Mental Jog:

Penangites, block out 15th November, 2009 in your diary.

The Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Roadshow, which has been planned as a full-day event, hits Penang on that day.

The venue : Hu Yew Seah Hall, 43 Madras Lane, Penang

We will kick off the event with a half-day youth workshop “Ada Apa Dengan Bangsa?” that morning, anchored by our smart partner, KOMAS. Participants will be urged to explore our identity, who we really are and what we believe in as Malaysians.

Numbers at the youth workshop, which is scheduled to start sharp at 9.00am, to be conducted with a mix of both Bahasa Malaysia and English, will be limited to 30 participants so that there will be greater scope for interaction.

If you’re aged between 17 – 25 and would like to participate in the youth workshop, send your details ( name, i.c. number, address, telephone contact number, and what you are presently doing ) to admin@sayaanakbangsamalaysia.net

The SABM forum, simply entitled “Bring Along A Friend”, kicks off in the afternoon, tentatively scheduled to start at 2.30pm, with the screening of “Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka”, an excellent documentary by Fahmi Reza, who will himself be at the forum to share some of his thoughts with us. The documentary gives an insight into the state of politics some 10 years before Malaya attained independence from the British. This documentary makes for an excellent backdrop for the forum and Q & A session that will follow immediately after.

A panel of speakers is being assembled to deliver some thought-provoking ideas whereafter participants will be given ample time during the Q & A session to get in on the healthy discussion that we hope will happen. The names of panellists will be announced at a later date.

We will serve light refreshments after the forum and Q & A session and then we will be screening KOMAS’ “Gaduh”. If you have not yet watched this short film, this screening in itself may be reason enough for you take make the effort to attend the forum.

Why is the forum entitled “Bring Along A Friend”?

Quite simply, because that’s what you’ll have to do to attend the forum.

This is how it works.

Attendance is by invitation.

So you’ll have to e-mail us for an invitation, both for yourself and a friend of yours.

Now if you’re a Malay Malaysian, you’ll also have to register a non-Malay Malaysian friend, besides registering yourself for the forum. Conversely, if you’re non-Malay Malaysian, we will require you to also register a Malay Malaysian friend.

As with the youth workshop, if you’d like to attend the forum, send your and your friend’s details ( name, i.c. number, address, telephone contact number, and what you and your friend are presently doing ) to admin@sayaanakbangsamalaysia.net

Looking forward to seeing you in Penang.
url: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/sabm-roadshow-heads-out-to-penang/

If I’m not mistaken, Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia is the brainchild of Haris Ibrahim. Here’s your chance to meet a wonderful man, and wow, double bonus, the venue is the best State in Malaysia, my Penang wakakaka.

Sexy talk

Love it – these sexy talk ;-)

(1) Nik Aziz wants EGM to 'axe' Hadi? (good on you, Tok Guru)

(2) Downsizing Polis Diraja (Bloody high time too)

(3) The demolished temple that never was (Samy, eat sh*t lah)

(4) Nudity no big deal for Emma (Bravo sweetie)

(5) Goldstone dares US on Gaza report (Good on Richard Goldstone – shows US 'blind' cringe towards anything Israeli, including Israeli war crimes - assh*le$))

Vive le nom de guerre

While googling for more information on hill slope projects I came across Rusdi Mustapha’s article in the Malay Mail titled They are just too powerful for words.

But what caught my eye was his last paragraph which states:

In the case of CPI, I appreciate its willingness to agree to disagree, but I remain steadfast in what I wrote in my column. Reading his letter to the editor (“CPI is not communist”, Oct 16) I say well done to chief executive officer Dr Lim Teck Ghee for “giving space to Pak Sako to present his considered analysis”, but I remain concerned about CPI allowing itself to be used by a nom de plume as a platform to attack the relationship of the Malays and their Royalty.

There is nothing wrong with a writer using a nom de plume to air his or her views, and I also question Rusdi’s contention that it had attacked the ‘relationship of the Malays and their Royalty’.

Indeed, Dr Lim Teck Ghee, the director of CPI responded to Rusdi's allegation in Response to Malay Mail article calling CPI ‘communist’.

I don’t propose to go into it (you can read the article for yourself) but suffice to say I wasn’t surprised to read Dr Lim saying Rusdi Mustapha had made ‘… a number of unfounded allegations, the most scurrilous of which are:

1. CPI [is] creating discord among the three major races in the country via its postings.
2. CPI should be investigated for inciting racial hatred and for being anti-monarchy in its content.
3. CPI is also questioning the special rights of the Malays under the Constitution.
4. CPI [is a] Communist Party Initiative operating under the guise of being a legitimate outfit.

There is not a single shred of evidence provided by Encik Rusdi to support any of these charges.’

I am not surprised at all. We’re all too well aware of the way in which the government mouthpieces had been used in the most disgraceful manner to incite, provoke and instigate the heartland so as to rally them behind the so-called ethnic-defender, UMNO, through their series of racist rants, vicious vitriolic and polemical propaganda.

But have these mainstream media, particular the Malay medium newspapers ever been investigated, let alone charged for inciting racial hatred among Malaysians?

Some people and sectors in Malaysia are privileged, pampered and protected – Teflon-ised from the laws of the nation that other Malaysian would be subjected to.

For example, when two local newspapers printed the infamous caricatures of Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) we saw them suspended for their provocative publications. But what about the NST? Not only was it exempt from the same treatment when it printed the same thing, the NST had the arrogant gall to publish the caricature a second time, without any ill effect …

… as I said, some people are privileged, pampered and protected. There are obviously two sets of laws in the nation.

The use of a nom de plume or more correctly in its original French version, nom de guerre, is a time honoured practice by renowned writers such as Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, JD Robb, Andy McNab, etc.

They did so for a variety of reasons, perhaps to make a writer more credible in his or her work – for example, even if you have a PhD in Islamic theology and are a learned Islamic scholar but use a name like Chan Ah Kow you’re hardly to be taken seriously in your opinion on Islamic law, especially in this country. A good non de guerre would be Zulkifli Ridhuan Kulim wakakaka.

Then there is the issue of retribution – in Malaysia this means from the authority. The clarion call that’s vogue for the heartland is of course anything to do with agama, bangsa dan raja, as can be seen from Rusdi’s condemnation of the CPI as being anti monarchy and questioning the rights of the Malay, when Dr Lim said there isn't a shred of truth in them.

We have witnessed how Teresa Kok was incarcerated for allegedly insulting Islam when no such insult had occurred. We have seen a journalist in Penang similarly incarcerated for reporting on what ubër nationalist Ahmad Ismail had said.

Then there was blogger Nat Tan and Jed Yoong. The list goes on and on.

As I mentioned, this is a nation where two sets of rules exist, one for those privileged, pampered and protected like Rusdi Mustapha, where using your real name is guaranteed to be safe, whilst Teresa Kok, Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Nat Tan and Jed Yoong had sufffered from its heavy handedness.

On the question of using your real name, here's another aspect - let’s compare The Malay Mail’s article on Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand's earth-shaking autopsy finding (not that we weren’t expecting it) where the MACC now stands indicted as indicated by the Malaysiakini headlines Teoh's death 80% homicide: Thai forensics expert.

Below is the online version of The Malay Mail titled Explosive testimony from Dr Death where Frankie D'Cruz wrote:

Imagine a corpse on the stainless steel table and bending over it, with ravenous frustration, is a woman resembling a princess of punk rock.

Her head is covered with dark red spikes, lips the colour of dried blood and gloved fingernails, as she prepares to slice the body open, encrusted with spangles.

Firstly he trivializes a very serious revelation of monumental criminal proportion. Secondly, he presented Dr Pornthirp as one belonging to the bizarre, perhaps from the lunatic fringe.

Thirdly and the most serious one, he described Dr Pornthirp as ‘Doctor Death’.

The libellous nature of calling a doctor ‘Doctor Death’ in the English language (and I would imagine The Malay Mail to be a English language newspaper) is unmistakable. Frank D'Cruz is suggesting that the doctor had been killing her patients, like one Dr Jayant Patel, a 'Doctor Death' who is believed to have killed some 80 of his patients in Queensland Australia.

Another category of doctors described as ‘Dr Death’ would be euthanasia advocates like American Jack Kervokian and Australian Philip Nitschke.

'Doctor Death' means his/her patient or patients had died under his/her hands!

I hope Dr Pornthirp will sue the hell out of this Frank D’Cruz and The Malay Mail for malicious libel.

So … what’s the value of having your name as a byline in bold like Frank D‘Cruz when you write such tripe?

In Malaysia, unless you belong to the privileged, pampered and protected, you would be wise to use a nom de guerre.

It should be in the quality and integrity of your writing, the logic and balance of your arguments and the relevance of your proposition that matters, not a bloody name.

For did not Juliet Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) tell Romeo Montague that a name is just an artificial and meaningless convention, as in "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

It’s the quality and integrity of your article, not your privileged, pampered and protected pomposity of a name. Pordah Rusdi!

Teoh Beng Hock - tortured & murdered?

Malaysiakini - Teoh's death 80% homicide: Thai forensics expert!

The findings of Thai expert Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand shocking?

No, not in the least. Certainly sad but not shocking, for they confirm what we have been suspecting, that Teoh Beng Hock had suffered various forms of physical abuse.

Torture, that was what it was! And poor Teoh's experience was not unique in the Malaysian context - au contraire, it was to be expected.

We can only presume the aim was to compel him to confess to some acts of corruption when such corruption didn’t exist.

The purpose?

Obviously political as we have already learnt from an anonymous letter written by a supposedly MACC insider, that a senior MACC officer was in deep cahoots with a Selangor pollie to destabilise the Pakatan Selangor government.

It’s the same old story of unfettered abuses being conducted in Malaysian police station and MACC, in the search for the 'desired evidence' a la instant mee - quick fix!

In the latter Teoh was the first unfortunate one to lose his life.

The recent thrust of the authorities in the inquest was guttersnipe stuff, attempting to sully Teoh’s reputation in so many ways.

It’s just as well the psychiatric tests were abandoned because god knows what further mischief those would have played to divert attention from the growing confirmation that Teoh was murdered.

MURDERED!

I hope those 2 musuh dalam selimut can find peace in their sleep for providing MACC with unsubstantiated allegations to work their evil on Teoh.

RPK staggering exposé on Perak royalty

In August 2007 there was a swell of euphoria regarding royal activism in Malaysian politics. The anti BN people, chiefly PKR members and even some PAS with the odd DAP supporters were in favour of this non constitutional non halal nonsense.

At that time I was very displeased with RPK who had (prior to the 2008 general election) promoted the idea of royalty as our political silver bullet at his Malaysia-Today blog. Yes, I was one of those very few who warned against jacking royalty up above its constitutional role.

A letter to Malaysiakini titled No more backbencher’s role for Rulers had me responding with a letter too, where I stated (extracts):

But we need to remember Malaysia is a democracy built around a constitutional monarchy, meaning the voice of the people, and not those of the rulers, prevails. […]

But we must never talk as if, or even suggest that they had been 'backbenchers' moving forward (presumably) to the 'front bench'.

That's dangerous talk, to suggest the rulers may play a direct political role … while serving as respective Heads of States …, or still retaining their royal prerogatives.

It's certainly a sign of our frustration with the current government that some of us believe the royalty could and would be our saviour. We, the politically frustrated public members, are in reality grasping at straws in much the same way as many of us had embraced a former UMNO reject as a political saviour against a previous regime even when there was no evidence of his reformist qualities during his various ministerial roles.

No matter how good any individual royalty is, no matter how bad any politician is, let us not unwittingly change our system of constitutional monarchy to one of absolute monarchy, or of one where royalty has a greater degree of direct political participation. That will be a regrettable step backwards.

Just remember, for a current praiseworthy royal individual, we had experienced a difficult one before. Therefore we should be concerned for a Malaysia governed by a consistent system rather than one by individuals.

Let us vote for good politicians and rid ourselves of bad ones, but we must never invite royalty to assume a political role, unless they wish to participate as an ordinary member of the public under the electoral process. Let us not throw the (constitutional monarchy) baby out with the (corrupt or wayward politician) bath water.

Remember, it's one thing to be euphoric about our royalty being currently politically vocal, but it's equally important to be aware that euphoria will initially give a feeling of false well-being before eventually killing that person!

I accompanied that letter with a post on my blog titled Dangerous euphoria over 'political' royalty.

Presumably, after reading my MKINI letter, a sweetie whom I adore, wrote to me to ask: ‘Vous êtes un républicain?’ ;-)

Then about a year later in April 2008, I posted The dangers of royal political activism where I voiced my concerns again, this time echoing MKINI columnists Ong Kian Ming and Oon Yeoh who wrote in their article The problem with royal activism:

Some people, perhaps simply because they like seeing Pak Lah squirm under the royal thumb in Perlis and Terengganu – cheered on the royalty, saying that their intervention was a good thing.

But it all depends on whose ox is being gored, doesn't it? Would these very same people cheer on the sultan's actions if this had happened to the opposition?

Re the last sentence, doesn't Perak jump to mind?

Anyway, much as I was not impressed by what I regard as RPK's dangerous promotion of the royalty as our political silver bullet, I have to NOW give credit to him for his balls of brass. He has done the ultimate exposé on those royalty.

Read his latest article Why the Pakatan Rakyat government was brought down in Perak and what he has revealed about the royalty in Perak and to a lesser extent, Selangor.

As with his other exposé RPK has provided chapter and verse.

Zaid Ibrahim scorning PKR?

In an interview with Malaysiakini in Kota Kinabalu today, Zaid Ibrahim said "I am a Pakatan man and not so much with PKR although I had to join a component party to be in the opposition alliance."

Should we read something in Zaid’s rather pointed declaration?


Reference: Malaysiakini Zaid outlines Pakatan blueprint for change

Serious allegation against MCA's new No 2

Malaysiakini - Gift to health minister's wife: Police urged to probe!

Newly minted Deputy President of MCA Liow Tiong Lai, who is also the Minister of Health, is implicated in an alleged scandal reported by a Malaysia-Today (M2D) article. A police report on the M2D article has been lodged.

The article published chapter and verse, even down to the number of pubic hair involved (figuratively speaking of course, wakakaka) on an alleged 'gift' of a car to the wife of Health Minister.

The alleged donor was named as construction firm Axis Construction Sdn Bhd (ACSB), which has figured prominently in the list of contracts awarded by the Health Ministry.

I first saw this allegation on Facebook which had obviously taken the information from M2D, and before I could say Karn-Neen-Nare, it’s already published on Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider.

As usual, more so with an ugly allegation against the new MCA No 2 man, The Star Online plays 3 wise monkeys.

And need I have to say anything more on the other government mainstream mouthpieces with regards to their similar tri-simian behaviour on an allegation of such scandalous proportion against the newly minted No 2 man in the 2nd biggest component party in BN?

Would their 'silence is golden' stand be an indirect indication of UMNO's support for Liow?

That’s the gift of the Net to us, at 300,000,000 metres per second, any allegation is spread like a cosmic wildfire. But the credit (if at all any, assuming the allegation is true in the first place) has to go to Raja Petra Kamarudin and his portal, Malaysia-Today.

Apparently the whistle blower signed himself off, either mischievously or pointedly, as ‘Ong Tee Keat supporter’.

Fatal purity to its fatal end?

Khairy Jamaluddin - the real threat to Pakatan

The Malaysian Insider - Dr M dismisses Khairy’s call to end ‘siege mentality’.

Hardly surprising as KJ is Dr M’s bête noire. Dr M has never nor will ever forgive KJ for what he believes the latter had done to him and sons during AAB’s reign.

But leaving that vendetta aside, why has Dr M rejected the need for Malays to end a ‘siege mentality’, which in reality has proven to be a psychologically crippling state of mind?

As an answer, Dr M directed his usual sarcastic remark at KJ: “Well, maybe some of us feel that we are already successful, so we don’t need to be under ‘siege’.”

The report continued: … the former prime minister said there were still many Malays who found it hard to make a living. Dr Mahathir said last night he believed Malays still had a siege mentality because of their relative poverty.

“Maybe the average Malay feels that he is under siege, so to speak because he does not earn enough.”

But Dr M, apart from some Chinese and many Indians also finding it hard to make a living, that wasn’t the point. KJ didn’t say they don’t have a siege mentality, au contraire, but he wants them to end it.

In the end Dr M, when pressed by reporters commented: “I’m not saying I’m agreeing or disagreeing with what he (Khairy) said. I don’t have to agree or disagree with anything.”

So we may take it that Dr M had dismissed KJ’s call for the sake of rejecting anything KJ says wakakaka … because Dr M himself had at the twilight years of his premiership said something to the same effect.

I believe he had wanted the Malays to throw away the same psychological crutches. The ‘Malaysia Boleh’ and Malaysian campaign of biggest, longest, tallest and various superlatives had been part of his career-long psywar to give Malays confidence in themselves – well, we can say he certainly has one success … KJ, wakakaka.

The thing about KJ is he’s one step ahead of his UMNO competitors or even PKR’s. If you don’t like him, ok, call him cunning, wicked and Machiavellian but this leng chai learns fast and (leaving aside the question of his sincerity) isn't afraid to try to implement his ‘solutions’.

Let’s look at one UMNO delegate to the party's general assembly and his head-in-the-sand argument while debating the presidential address, as reported in Malaysiakini’s 'BN component parties destroyed us'.

Md Rozai Safian from Kedah accused the BN's partners of being the ‘destroyers’ who brought about UMNO’s loss of its 2/3 majority in Parliament.

Mkini stated that “… Although he did not directly imply which component parties contributed to the defeat, it could be taken as a thinly veiled attack against major partners such as MCA and MIC.”

Now, in a blame game, such ostrich-like bull might find favour with the conservative elements but would hardly help UMNO determine why the non-Malays (particularly the Chinese) had rejected MCA and Gerakan, and thus the leadership of BN-UMNO.

And if you can't identify the fault, how can you address it?

Compare that with KJ’s message to the UMNO delegates, as reported in Mkini’s Khairy: It's game time!

"This is my message to the delegates in Umno, it is important to show that the parties within the coalition have close cooperation and are not seen as subordinates to Umno."

"I am saying that they are having problems, but we need to show that people could come back to BN because they like MIC, MCA and Umno.”

"If not they would say MCA and MIC are useless because they cannot stand up to Umno because Umno is too exclusive."

"So now I want to show the inclusiveness so that people would respect BN and that would also help to rebuild MIC, MCA and Gerakan."

As said, leaving the question of his sincerity aside, we can see he's miles ahead of that mentioned cow head from Kedah.

Meanwhile, following the Bagan Pinang disaster for PAS, we hear such ‘earth-shattering’ news from Pak Haji Hadi Awang in Mkini’s PAS mulls turning non-Muslim supporters club into party wing.

Yawwwwwnnnnnnnn … is that the best they can come up with, presumably after they analysed why they had bombed in Bagan Pinang? Have they considered the unmitigated harm done by Hassan Ali?

Maybe PAS is now suffering too from a 'siege mentality' wakakaka!

… which is why, regardless of Dr M's hatred of him, I deem KJ as the Pakatan’s most formidable and dangerous political opponent.

Anwar Ibrahim fiddles while Rome Sabah burns?

Most Malaysians who have been following Malaysian politics, especailly opposition politics, know that Azmin Ali has been and is the right hand man of Anwar Ibrahim, El Supremo of PKR and the accepted leader of the loose coalition called Pakatan Rakyat.

Ironically, while Anwar Ibrahim has been acknowledged as the vital glue that holds the component parties of Pakatan together, his party PKR has also been identified as the alliance's weakest link.

PKR is the successor to Parti KeADILan, with the latter created as a single-issue political entity, to fight for the release of Anwar Ibrahim after he was incarcerated in the original sodomy affair, known locally as Sodomy I (where there is currently a case pending in court unofficially referred to as Sodomy II).

Subsequently KeADILan merged with PRM to form PKR (to my mind as well as many in PRM, that was a sad mistake by Dr Syed Husin). Anyway, in its hasty formation it indiscriminately recruited a considerable number of questionable members - 'questionable' in their commitments to the Pakatan avowed 'clean' politics.

We have certainly witnessed the lack of discipline in a number of PKR members, but worse, we hear of them 'continuing' to harbour the grosser ends of UMNO mentality.

With the exit from PKR of Ezam Mohd Noor, once known as the left hand man of Anwar Ibrahim (well, or vice versa with Ezam as the RH man and Azmin the LH man), maybe Azmin has come to believe he stands just a heartbeat away from being No 1 in PKR and by default (perhaps his ego allows him to think so) the primus inter pares of the Pakatan coalition.

Pak Haji Hadi Awang has similar aspiration wakakaka.

Azmin first showed his ambitious fangs when in July he was reported to demand reshuffling of the state exco but Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim ignored him – see Azmin Ali continues attacking Selangor government.

There have been suggestions that Azmin Ali was after the Selangor MB job (my speculation - perhaps a ‘half loaf’ re-strategizing given the unlikelihood of PKR being part of the federal ‘916’ government).

Then disgruntled former-DAP-now-PKR Wee Choo Keong leapt into the fray by making very unpleasant insinuations which could have led to the MACC initiating investigations into alleged corruption of DAP Selangor ADUNs – see PKR MP Wee Choo Keong drops a bombshell and Liu challenges Wee to name exco member with ties to underworld.

Wee made the statement in support of PKR MP Azmin Ali when the latter called for changes in the Selangor exco line-up.

Errr …… did we say Pakatan is a coalition?

Now dear Azmin Ali is in the limelight again, as a man highly unwanted in Sabah where he was appointed by Anwar Ibrahim as the PKR State chief. Naturally the locals have taken umbrage that ‘Kuala Lumpur’ (UMNO or PKR, WTF it's still those penjajahan dari barat lah) has again shafted a West Malaysian down their throat as their ‘leader’.

16 of PKR Sabah divisions have lodged their lack of confidence in Azmin Ali. They want instead local boy Jeffrey Kitingan. For more, read Haris Ibrahim’s We want ketuanan rakyat, not ketuanan Melayu, in Sabah.

But far more troubling than this, has been the RPK article PKR is on self-destruct mode in Sarawak and Sabah which stated:

For example, Sabah is throwing a Hari Raya bash and Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has invited Zaid Ibrahim as their guest. Zaid has agreed to attend but there are those in PKR who do not want him to go. They want him to boycott the event to send a message to PKR Sabah that Kuala Lumpur is not supportive of Jeffrey.

If the PKR leadership thinks that Jeffrey should go then tell him so. Then let him go back to Barisan Nasional if this is what PKR wants. But to boycott his Hari Raya party and to order Zaid to not attend the event is not only childish but damaging the opposition cause as well.

It is time this nonsense stops. We just can’t treat the East Malaysians like we are their colonial masters.

Is it any wonder that Zaid Ibrahim is so pissed off that he has abruptly taken 6 months leave.

The Malaysiakini latest news headline Zaid goes on leave, crisis in PKR? stated [extracts]:

The surprise announcement comes amid talk that the former Umno leader is locked in a squabble with PKR vice-president Azmin Ali.
With PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali to bow out of the party soon, both Azmin and Zaid are seen to be potential candidates to fill the post.

There has been moves by Sabah PKR leaders to oust Azmin as the state party chief.

Malaysiakini has learnt that Zaid was to be dispatched to Sabah this weekend on a trouble-shooting mission under the guise of attending a hastily-arranged Aidil Fitri function.

Azmin, according to insider accounts, objected and claimed that Zaid could not be an honest broker.

In a statement released this afternoon, Zaid, who joined PKR in June, said he would not be attending the party's political bureau meetings.

Like all leaders, Anwar Ibrahim has a number of leadership weaknesses. Unfortunately one of them is his reluctance to discipline his PKR troops – the Kulim Wonder and his totally un-Pakatan behaviour being a prime example. Azmin Ali appears to be another.

PKR has already (progressively) lost Ezam, Nalla, etc etc, and now probably Zaid Ibrahim. Whether these blokes were/is worthy or not is not the point but their cases seem to point to a common denominator.

Is Anwar Ibrahim going to just fiddle while his (PK)R-ome burns?

Ong Tee Keat going down fighting

Malaysiakini - MCA chief calls EGM to decide fresh polls.

Could a purity fanatic, almost a la Maximilien Robespierre, who doesn’t give a fig about appeasing others but more obsessed with the idea of virtue in politics, tolerate a tainted pollie as a deputy, a man who would be less than half a heart stopping beat away from the MCA No 1 position? The answer has been clear!

Can a non corruptibility ‘Taliban’ accept that he had been ’manipulated’ out of his presidency (one he won by 65+% votes) by what my blogger mate Hsu Dar Ren called ‘master strategists’ within the MCA who had cleverly moved between 30 to 50 votes around the 3 motions in the MCA EGM, to effectively control more than 2,000 others, so as to bring about a change which benefitted neither Ong Tee Keat nor Chua Soi Lek but the resurrection of an unwanted and already-spent bloc?

Unlike Robespiere who had his own head loped off as well in a Taliban-ish purge he initiated during the French Revolution, Ong must have thought, “OK, maybe I’ll go but I’ll set in place a process that is far more democratic than the oligarchic power of 30 (to 50) votes.

“I won’t insist on remaining as president but let’s have a real fresh election.”

Ong has invoked his powers as MCA president to have another EGM to consider fresh party polls. Obviously what he has in mind is that no one (especially Dr Chua SL, Chan Kong Choy or Ong Ka Chuan) would be allowed to slip in conveniently should he resign as he was expected (and in one case, told) to.

If those more than 2,000 delegates have a change of mind (realizing perhaps they had been manipulated), good lord, Robespierre may still be around wakakaka.

If not, then he hopes Liow Tiong Lai will have enough time in the meanwhile to fend off the so-called 3rd force and dear Dr Chua.

The obsessed purity is still there but will it be fatal again for Ong Tee Keat, or indeed will he, unlike Maximilien Robespierre, escape the political guillotine this time?

A letter from a mandore-hater on Bagan Pinang & Kampung Buah Pala

It’s interesting to read a letter to Malaysiakini titled BN embraces Indians, Pakatan crucifies them.

Purportedly written by a Chinese it lambasted Pakatan Rakyat for looking down at Indians while at the same praising PM Najib sky high – yes I know, sounds familiar, doesn’t it ;-). Here’s what the writer stated:

Pakatan just felt that the Indians were not so important anymore as seen in the events that took place in Kampung Buah Pala.

We all can condemn as much as we want, but Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak definitely proved to be the better politician than those in the opposition - at least in Bagan Pinang - as he knew how to embrace and court the Indians. Whereas the opposition became too big-headed and discarded the Indians.

Now here’s another statement [inclusive of grammatical and punctuation errors as it was published], this time using that Hindraf supporters' favourite but totally biadap (offensively ill-mannered) word to describe DAP Indians like Professor Ramasamy:

Pakatan thought that through their ineffective Indian mandores, they will be harnessing support. They so naïve and blinded. Najib, on the other hand. inaugurated a runaway organisation (The Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party) and better still, Dr Mahathir Mohamad endorsed it.

Yup, the offensive and boorish word is ‘mandore’ which is repeated in another subsequent paragraph.

Hmmm, so Makkal Sakthi is a 'runaway' organization eh? I wonder, with the employment of that terrible word 'mandore' and the simultaneous plug for Makkal Sakthi, whether there’s enough in the letter to suggest a strong but covert link between Hindraf and Makkal Sakthi, much as they may claim to be different? wakakaka!

And never mind that in the Kampung Buah Pala affair, under CM Lim GE and DCM Professor Rama, the KBP residents have benefitted from the best compensation scheme ever achieved for any squatters, the author, one so-called Wong Mun Chee ;-) persisted in describing Pakatan in the following terms:

As for Pakatan, it is a simple ego thing. The minute you talk about Kampung Buah Pala, they take a defensive attitude and crucify the residents there rather than working with them. They do this for their own deficiencies or ulterior motives.

And with so-called 'Wong' talking about ‘defensive attitude’ here’s the concluding paragraph in his letter:

And let me spare your mind a thing or two. Why does one with a Chinese name talk so much about an Indian issue? Simple, I am a Malaysian. My name does not matter but my intention for what the truth can do to better Malaysian society is more important.

Hahaha thou doth protest too much Wong!
Bravo and wakakaka

Hishamuddin Hussein was for Nordin Top but what about Chin Peng?

The Malaysian Insider reported that Chin Peng is fighting for his last wish to be buried in Sitiawan, next to his father and grandfather.

He claims his right to return to Malaysia was reneged on by the Malaysian government, a very nasty breach of international legal agreement that even Samy Vellu would have described with his fave phrase of ‘tidak boleh pakai’.


Legally, the government had agreed with him and the Thai government, made 20 years ago in a peace deal in Haadyai, to allow all Malaysian communists who desired it to return home and live in peace.

Hmmm, maybe Chin Peng didn’t read the small print; what he thought of as ‘…all Malaysian communists …’ was actually written as ‘…all Malay communists …’?

Several key players who brokered the deal on behalf of the Malaysian government, including former IGP, Tan Sri Rahim Noor, were actually waiting to testify in support of Chin Peng but the High Court in Kuala Lumpur tossed out his suit without calling for a trial.

The Malaysian Insider reported that Judge Datuk Balia Yusof Wahi stated it was a known fact that he had committed “evil” acts during the 12 years of the Emergency after World War Two (WW2).

While the word ‘evil’ is fairly subjective, depending on which side you have been standing, be that as it may, I would recommend to Chin Peng to seek assistance from Home Affairs Minister Hishamuddin Tun Hussein.

Hisham as the Home Minister is commonly known (his other ‘affectionate’ nickname being kerismuddin) is known to be champion of rehabilitation.

Hisham had lamented he was too late in rehabilitating Noordin Top, the most notorious terrorist mass killer in SE Asia, when the murderer was killed by Indon police. How Hisham must have wished he had the opportunity to turn such a vicious killer into the proverbial lamb.

Alas, opportunity lost but what the hey Hisham old chap, you can still try it out with Chin Peng - no doubt a 2nd best compared to Nordin Top but can still produce a good karmic outcome for you.

Yes, Hisham The Compassionate even saw to it that the corpse of Nordin Top was not abandoned in a foreign pauper’s grave, but brought home to tanah air kita.

Surely, Hisham’s compassion and penchant for rehabilitating terrorists would be in bountiful surplus, and adequate enough to spare for an aging former terrorist?

However, Chin Peng wistfully remarked: “If I’m Malay, it would be very much easier for me ... Unfortunately, I’m not Malay.”

Nah Ah Pek, not now when UMNO is for all Malaysians, more so if one’s dad and granddad were also buried in Sitiawan.

PAS afflicted by the Uthayakumar Syndrome

PAS has what I call the Uthayakumar Syndrome. The Bagan Pinang by-election outcome could perhaps be a timely reminder to PAS not to be ultra-sombong (hubristic).

PAS has had this propensity to run away with its perception of its own electable worth – it did exactly that after its 1999 victory, riding on the back of public sympathy for Dr Wan Azizah, but immediately forgetting it was Dr Wan Azizah who was the real winning factor.

PAS had a swift hard slap in 2004 to wake it up from its runaway political hubris.

Similarly in 2008, after sharing the spoils of the tsunamic revolution, many of its hardliners like Hadi Awang, Nasharuddin, Hassan Ali took their candidates' electability for granted, either forgetting the non-Muslim votes in tricky places like Bukit Gantang, Permatang Pasir, Kuala Terengganu, etc had been the decisive factor, or taking for granted that the non-Muslims would continue to hate UMNO more than they fear or despise PAS.

I call it the Uthayakumar Syndrome because the bloke who (initially) had so magnificently marshalled the Indians into the formidable force that Hindraf once was, took for granted that Indian support would always be solidly behind him, and therefore he would continue to be the Optimus Prime he has come to see himself as.

Thus hubris set in, and he became an unreasonable ‘spoilt brat’, demanding and expecting Pakatan pollies, like Lim Guan Eng and Professor Ramasamy to immediately kowtow to his every beck and call.

And my god, the tantrums, taunts and threats he threw at them when those mere mortals had the blooming impertinent cheek to refuse his deigned divine demands. Hey, didn’t they realize his Indian supporters had stooped down to touch his feet when he was released?

Back to PAS, Dr Hassan Ali’s unilateral actions, conduct and utterances as a Selangor State exco member, whether on the beer issue or Selcat affair had been those borne by a man of invincible hubris. The blind support of his PAS Youth and the two ‘Malay unity’ leaders from the East Coast have made him even more intransigent.

It has not only been the non-Muslim suspicion but also the despair of his more knowledgeable PAS colleagues like Khalid Samad that Hassan Ali and unfortunately by default PAS cannot be relied upon as a reliable member of Pakatan.

I cannot say much about the Indian votes in Bagan Pinang but if you’re interested you could ask Samy Vellu, S Subramanian, Palanivel, Murugiah, Thanenthiran, and perhaps even Uthayakumar, etc etc, and all these people will no doubt provide you with their take on the over 70% swing to UMNO, even allowing for the popularity of Isa Samad as the popular ‘local boy’ wakakaka.

But the Chinese votes? Yes, the majority went to Isa Samad despite Lim Guan Eng and various DAP luminaries campaigning there.

For a start, PAS candidate Zulkefly Mohamad Omar is not PAS Mohamad Nizar. Secondly, while DAP support for PAS candidates had certainly been a great boost it couldn’t, as proven in Bagan Pinang, be taken as an automatic guarantee of overwhelming non-Muslim support.

As a Penang bloke, I have seen (or been told) how Penang Chinese voters had punished in turns the MCA and the once-much-loved Gerakan. The DAP should draw a lesson on this, that assumption of support from the Chinese should be based on:

(a) Why they had (in the first place) supported a party?
(b) Would they continue to support that party (eg. PAS), or have the influencing factors changed?
(c) Is there another party or individual who far more merits their support?

I would not be too far wrong if I were to say that Chinese usually vote either to maintain the status quo or to punish.

So don’t ever be hubristic, presumptuous or only see things through your own pollies’ eyes.

Why Ong Tee Keat is worth supporting and saving!

Today Malaysiakini headlined its vox populi column as 'Umno has legitimised corruption' in referring to Isa Samad’s landslide win in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

I like to borrow the title of that article to describe the PM’s call (or if you want to be polite, ‘hint’) to Ong Tee Keat to resign as MCA President.

Ong Tee Keat (note I’m using his full name because another ‘Ong’, no relation, will also be mentioned in this post) has been the person who brought the PKFZ scam right out into the open, and embarrassed one of his MCA colleagues Chan Kong Choy, the former Transport Minister, and several BN business and UMNO cronies, all of whom have been implicated in the PKFZ scandal.

The Malaysian Insider has today revealed in its article Supporters of Ka Ting, Kong Choy behind third force swing votes (yawnnnnnnnn), which is something most Chinese Malaysians already know or at least suspect as the manipulative force behind the recent MCA idiotic lose-lose EGM outcome.

My blogging matey, erudite Hsu Dar Ren wrote (also in The Malaysian Insider) A master move where he stated: When two factions are almost equally matched, as all indications showed; a strategically planned and galvanised small third force can do wonders, and that was what happened.

Most of us thought that given the equally matched opposing factions, no one would be able to galvanise a third force to throw the two respective leaders of the warring factions out.

But this was what actually happened. Someone behind the scene galvanised a small force of 30-50 delegates. By voting as a bloc, and voting one way for the first resolution, another way for the second resolution and yet another for the third resolution, this small group of 30 to 50 members succeeded in bringing down two big elephants.

Whoever is behind this is a (are) master strategist(s).

This is the result best suited to the Big Brother. Is the Big Brother behind this/these master strategist/s? We will probably never know.

However, Hsu gave a more altruistic reason for the master strategist(s), namely, to save the party from splitting, whilst most of us believe it was pure payback for Ong Tee Keat for daring to rock the BN gravy boat ...

... and god forbid, maybe going on to capsize even more gravy boats and derail gravy trains?

Even before the PKFZ exposure, Ong Tee Keat had already startled UMNO with his in-your-face revelation about corruption in the Education Ministry when he was then deputy minister for higher education.

Though Ong Tee Keat was proven correct in that exposure of corruption, as I posted in Corruption 'Fact' for DPM Najib & Hishamuddin, then-DPM Najib shamelessly spun that the cabinet’s reprimand of Ong Tee Keat for exposing officials' misuse of funds meant for Chinese schools' refurbishment was a matter of ‘principle’, and that the ‘facts’ of Ong’s allegation was entirely a different matter.

Huh? Facts of corruption to Najib was a different matter? Shouldn't that be the f* core issue?

The cabinet reprimand came about after Najib’s cousin, Hishamuddin, then-Education Minister had railed against Ong’s exposure.

Hishamuddin had initially rejected Ong’s claim. But typically Ong Tee Keat didn't budge but after the reprimand … wakakaka … good olde Samy Vellu confirmed the 'facts' of Ong’s revelation – see Najib riled with Ong Tee Keat's last laugh!

So I am not entirely surprised by recent events, where we now witness a confluence of Najib’s too hasty pressure for Ong Tee Keat to leave his presidential post a.s.a.p and The Malaysian Insider’s news article Supporters of Ka Ting, Kong Choy behind third force swing votes

Note in 2 paragraphs above I stated “But typically Ong Tee Keat didn't budge …”

Ong Tee Keat was recently described in a Malaysiakini article by columnist Neil Khor, my fellow Penangite and an erudite writer. Khor aptly titled his article ‘Fatal Purity’, no doubt borrowed from the title of a book by Ruth Scurr who wrote of Maximilien Robespierre.

A quick synopsis of the book in The Observer said: 'Fatal purity' refers to his [Robespierre] reputation for probity in politics and domestic affairs. His nickname in Paris, deserved by all accounts, was 'the Incorruptible'. He sought power for no reason other than to liberate the people of France from tyranny. He was obsessed with the idea of virtue, in politics and in private, although somehow that didn't stop him sending hundreds of people to their deaths.

And that is what probably has been giving the sh*ts to Najib and UMNO. I’ve just read a Malaysiakini letter which stated [extracts]:

Support for Ong Tee Keat, with his agenda of a clean and accountable government would force the same onto MCA, and therefore onto the entire Malaysian political landscape.

I see this as a turning point for Malaysia and as a foreign businessperson this is good news - it's good for business! […]

So the outcome of the MCA EGM, far from being just an internal leadership tussle, I think will have a major impact on all of Malaysia.

So, at least for now, Ong Tee Keat has an important symbolic role to play which helps the current Umno and BN leadership to continue with a progressive political mandate.

Alas, it was not too be. But it could have force UMNO to stand in line with a purity fanatic like Ong Tee Keat.

And Tengku Razaleigh, much as he criticised Ong Tee Keat in A taste of what’s to come had admitted (extracts):

A further question is what becomes of BN and Umno without a viable MCA. Without Chinese support, Umno would be like PAS in the days when it seemed like a local party of Kelantan: an exclusively Malay party, strong in some localities but irrelevant nationally.

There is a view that Umno, and by extension, the Malays, can somehow go it alone. Some calculate that Umno can cling to power by winning back the Malay masses through playing on divisive racial and religious issues. This is a mis-reading of the country at large and it underestimates the good sense and moderation of the majority of the Malays.

Meanwhile, there are signs that PAS, with the assistance of its partners, is taking up the middle ground vacated by Umno. In cooperation with its partners, PAS is now a force to reckon with in the plural centre of the country.

... which is why, much as we may despise the MCA, we should support a man like Ong Tee Keat for the greater good of the nation. If we allow him to go, we would, like UMNO, be legitimizing corruption.

Najib as PM? 38% Chinese evasive

Malaysiakini Survey: Najib's popularity has dipped

Najib had a 65% popularity rating when he started off as the PM.

Now that stands at only 56%. Let's see who has been responsible?

Well, thanks to good work done by various Indian based political parties and a few which claimed not to be political, Najib is most popular among the Indian community. His 68% popularity standing with them is most noteworthy. Most Indians polled have expressed happiness with his leadership.

The Malay sampling shows he is still hot at 64%.

Okay, let's quit while we're ahead for Najib - I won't mention any more statistics wakakaka!

UMNO-PAS elections' violence

Refer to Malaysiakini PAS workers slashed, Umno blamed!

malaysiakini photo

Leaving aside May 13 (which was after all a racial riot), the election events which had produced the most violence or the most acrimonious exchanges (physical or otherwise) have been those between UMNO and PAS.

It’s a known fact that Malays are far more passionate about political issues than Chinese or even Indians. Bagan Pinang has shown that once again. Could it be then be the high volatile passion involved?

It’s also an accepted perception among Malaysians that Malays are far more emotional than Chinese. Could runaway emotions have led to the violence in Bagan Pinang?

Or could it be just that Bagan Pinang is really a high stake by-election for UMNO, involving (1) Najib’s prestige, (2) UMNO morale, and (3) the vital step leading to the political resurrection of Isa Samad?

It’s a shame that a samurai sword was used to attack a PAS worker. Samurai swords are better employed as weapons of honour, for corrupt pollies to commit seppuku.

Sad sorry saga of MCA

I read The Malaysian Insider’s The growing irrelevance of Umno’s partners where it reported that ‘… a common refrain heard was that Umno should be less generous in giving up Malay-majority seats to representatives of MCA, MIC, Gerakan and other component parties … because … These non-Malay political parties in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition are growing in irrelevance among the racial constituencies they once represented.’

This is during a time when UMNO is fretting over constituencies like Bagan Pinang, Bukit Gantang, Permatang Pasir etc where non-Malay voters can have a significant influence on the election outcomes.

However, the sheer stupidity of UMNO’s tactic, to bypass MCA and go directly to the Chinese, without understanding the underlying reason, is a sad reflection of UMNO’s self-centeredness where the party has become out of touch with reality.

Why do I say this?

I’m going to re-write what I have often written, regarding the plight of MCA. I’ll leave the issue of MIC to my buddy Vijay Kumar Murugavell. As for the once-mighty Gerakan Party, it's so dead it's only respectful for me not to disturb the dearly departed.

Read up on the 1969 general election, when the MCA was virtually decimated by a combination of the DAP, Gerakan ;-) and PPP, provoking a caustic remark from the late Tun Dr Ismail, who sneered that the MCA ‘hidup segan, mati ta’mahu', meaning ‘neither dead or alive’ or was a political zombie, so to speak.

However, the MCA’s worst political enemy causing its political irrelevance has not been/is not the DAP, but UMNO ...

... because each time UMNO issued a policy or announced a course of action which was detrimental or seen as detrimental to Chinese Malaysians (many times without consulting or even providing prior notice to the MCA), the MCA would quake in its underpants, as it was also expected by UMNO to back Taikoh's policy or action.

Precisely because UMNO expected MCA to blindly back government's polices that were not to Chinese interests, it was virtually calling on MCA to commit political sepukku. That's the unreasonable attitude of UMNO in its so-called coalition.

The MCA knew and expected the Chinese to punish the party severely in the polls. 1969 and 2008 were the ultimate 'last straws' for the Chinese community who had been very tolerant of MCA's subordinate (and not equal) role in the BN.

One good example would be the primary (Chinese medium) school in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, which was shut down by the Education Ministry against the wishes of the parents and teachers. The MCA didn't know where to put its face.

Another case of UMNO undermining the MCA happened years ago, when Anwar Ibrahim was then Education Minister. His ministry passed the compulsory instruction to schools that non-Muslim students must, during the school weekly prayers, raise their hands like Muslims do.

That was unmitigated proselytizing, akin to, say, the Italian Education Ministry demanding all students, including Muslims, cross themselves like Catholics do, once a week at school.

Needless to say, the MCA then wished they could disappear from the face of the earth. I can tell you that each time UMNO does that sort of insensitive stuff to Chinese Malaysians, DAP would be smiling, while MCA would be tearing what little left of its hair off its head and putting the curse of T'or Tee Kong (The Lord of Hades) on the UMNO policy maker.

An elder relative told me that Anwar Ibrahim, who was ‘coincidentally’ away overseas when the crude insensitive proselytizing instruction was issued, commented glibly on his return that non-Muslim parents should treat the Muslim praying posture as one of ‘universal value’ – yeah, just like the Buddhists putting their hands together in Indian style greeting, or the Catholics crossing themselves.

I am sure many non-Muslim parents would have liked to see him make the Muslim students do those gestures of 'universal value'.

As I mentioned, the beneficiary of the UMNO insensitive decision-making has been the DAP.

But UMNO obviously had acted, acts and will always act for its own benefit above those of its MCA, MIC or any other 'partners', as we have witnessed in recent times, both during AAB’s premiership and lately under Najib’s premiership, cow’s head and all, when the Malay language mainstream media ranted with their provocatively racist instigations … all merely to attract the votes of the heartland.

And they still want MCA to produce the Chinese votes? Why not ask Sang Suria to rise in the West - that would have been easier.

UMNO is more than just the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the BN, because in the BN there's no equal to UMNO - it only tolerates the other parties like MCA, Gerakan, MIC etc as mere window dressing to its public facade of a pretend-coalition.

And UMNO has the bloody cheek to criticize if not condemn the MCA for being unable to marshal the Chinese voters to the BN banner.

How the f* to, when UMNO keeps chopping the MCA off at its knees?

If you recall, Deputy Minister Ong Tee Keat once exposed the corruption in the school administration where 90% (that's right, not 10% but a whopping 90%) of maintenance money went into the pockets of the some school officials.

And what did the Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein do when the corruption was revealed by Ong?

He went ballistic and lambasted Ong Tee Keat while his cousin, then DPM Najib, made Ong Tee Keat’s Minister apologize in cabinet [Ong personally or even in his appointment as a deputy minister didn’t apologize].

… which may explain why UMNO don’t like Ong Tee Keat and prefer Chua SL as the MCA president.

And what happened to those corrupt school officials? Your guess is as good as mine.

The above reasons explain the Chinese community’s rejection of the MCA, for being unable to stand up to UMNO’s arrogant aggravated aggression.

And UMNO now thinks/talks of approaching the Chinese community directly by bypassing MCA?

It goes to show how out of touch, or how unaware UMNO is of Chinese disgust with them.

It’s not so much MCA itself that the Chinese are fed up with but UMNO!!!

And should the MCA be disliked too?

Yes, because its leaders thus far continue to eat UMNO sh*t like the political eunuchs that they are.

… unless of course Ong Tee Keat becomes another Lim Chong Eu.

[Sigh] we can only hope.

Kulim Wonder insults Islam & Syariah Laws

The Star Online reported:

PKR Member of Parliament Zulkifli Noordin has called on National Fatwa Council to investigate Sisters in Islam (SIS) and other members of the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality for criticising the caning sentence imposed on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno by the Syariah High Court.

The Kulim Bandar Baru MP said questioning the punishment and its execution was tantamount to questioning the Federal Constitution and the syariah laws.

This is clearly an insult to Islam. The Fatwa Council should declare these groups as deviant and take necessary action as what was done to Al Arqam, Ayah Pin, Pak Kahar group and others,” he said in a statement on Friday.

Firstly, on a minor digression before we come to the heart of the matter - who is the Kulim Wonder to suggest the Federal Constitution cannot be questioned? In fact, the Constitution has not only been questioned on numerous occasions but actually altered as well - as an example, recall the insertion of Article 121(1)(A) - see my post Article 121(1)(A) - What terrified the Civil Courts!.

Secondly and more importantly, the Kulim Wonder like most of his like-minded losers, is an embarrassment to the great religion of Islam. Apparently, whenever they lack confidence in their religion and the intellectual competency to defend Islam or its syariah laws, they would (like facist dictators) resort to threats to silence the other side.

Is the Kulim Wonder telling us that Islam and syariah laws, which have lasted through thick and thin for more than a thousand years (all without his help thus far - Alhamdulillah), have now become so feeble that they require the Kulim Wonder's facist recommendations to defend them?

Puhleeeze lah, Islam does not need his low brow shameful threats.

What an insult to the great religion of Islam and its syariah laws! And the insult has come not from SIS or JAG, BUT from the Kulim Wonder!

And it's probably due to his personal lack of confidence in the strength, robustness and serenity of Islam.

I call upon the PKR leader to have some balls (just one will do, if he were to have any) to sack the Kulim Wonder from his party. There is no room in Pakatan for such people who continue unwittingly (and stupidly) to insult Islam (or for that matter, any other great religion)!

Penis too long to measure?

The Star Online reported in Judge denies request to measure length of husband’s intimate part that:

A Taiwanese woman reportedly asked for divorce from her husband — because his penis was too long.

Sin Chew Daily, quoting a newspaper report from Taiwan, reported that the woman, in her second attempt to divorce her husband, said she had to bear with pain whenever she had sex with him.

When the matter was brought up in the court recently, the judge called in a doctor to determine the length of the man’s penis.

However, the request was rejected as the length of a man’s intimate part was “very subjective”.

In the end, the judge rejected the woman’s petition and ordered her to return to her husband.

The woman said they were married in 1995 and she applied for a divorce 10 years later.

The application, she said, was rejected the first time. It was unclear why the petition was struck out.

On complaints by his wife that his penis was too long, the man said: “I have never measured it before.”

(1) Woman bodoh (stupid) on 2 counts: (a) put hubby on eBay and she would have been very rich, and (b) … you work it out …

(2) The judge is a spoilsport ;-)

(3) Some bastards have all the luck in the world wakakaka!

Poor Indian leadership in Bagan Pinang

Sometimes you wonder why a smart bloke like Najib would choose Isa Samad as the candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election?

Sure, Isa is a good mate of his, bloke is a local warlord, Isa’s men would sabotage the by-election outcome if another candidate were to be chosen, blah blah blah ...

... but surely he could and should have a more strategic assessment of the consequences of putting a tainted Isa as the BN’s candidate.

His erstwhile mentor Dr M had provided good advice but Najib has either decided to have his mate back in mainstream UMNO politics or he succumbed to the power brokers in UMNO or he was so hard-up for a tactical victory (in the wake of several by-election losses) that he went for what he thought would be a ‘safe’ choice.

You know what I have been thinking of who would have been the best BN candidate?

Can you guys recall the Ijok by-election just prior to the 2008 general election?

BN then had the guts to uphold the BN tradition (despite the BN f*-ups in other multiracial aspects) by putting up an Indian candidate in a Malay majority electorate against a PKR Malay opponent. I had a lot of respect for that BN move ...

... but alas, nowadays the only daring thing UMNO would venture to do seems to more about stomping and spitting on a decapitated cow's head.

And if you read The Malaysian Insider’s Umno still faces an angry Indian electorate Isa isn’t exactly the best bloke to win the majority of the 20% electoral Indian votes because of BN's total neglect of the community, not just in recent times but particularly when he was MB.

Vasantha Kumar, a former Hindraf leader (note ‘former’) accused Isa Samad as the BN leader presiding over the worst neglect of the Bagan Pinang Indians in his 24-year tenure as MB.

Vasantha stated: “It is such an irony that the man who is to be largely blamed for the neglect of the Indian community in Bagan Pinang has returned to become the candidate.”

Vasantha urges the Indian voters to vote for PAS/Pakatan.

But alas, the Indians are divided. We have Thanenthiran and his new Najib-embraced party, one with a hijacked name, working their asses out for Isa. Maybe there’s a Datukship sometime in the future for Thanenthiran?

Then party-less T Murugiah is into bodek-ish high-gear, threatening to have the police arrest those who raise the cow-head issue during the election campaign.

While I can understand Thanenthiran’s and Murugiah's shameless sycophantic selfish ‘motivation’ I can’t Uthayakumar’s – bloke is urging Indian voters to boycott the by-election to signal their anger at their neglect.

Is that the best way to voice one’s grievance?

I am beginning to firm up on what I have been suspecting about Uthayakumar for quite a while, because his current political campaign (yes, calls for boycotting the by-election is also a campaign) in Bagan Pinang seems to be at great odds to the one he adopted for Kg Buah Pala - I don’t see much of ‘boycotting’ calls by Uthayakumar then. In fact he was most active and noisy (actually vitriolic).

It’ll be a great shame if the Indian voters heed such a negative approach, and lose at least a say in a democratic process – and in Bagan Pinang it's a fairly significant 'say', their sole chance of ever being heard.

Any boycott will only benefit UMNO!

Aren't 52 years enough? Why must Indians once again be screwed into muted marfulat marginalisation by poor leadership ... and if that were to happen they can thank Uthayakumar.

I urge the Indians, Malays and Chinese in Bagan Pinang to vote for change.