'Selective insomnia': Rayer hits back after Hadi rants about Islamophobic DAP ‘pendatang’

'Selective insomnia': Rayer hits back after Hadi rants about Islamophobic DAP ‘pendatang’


Published: Jul 16, 2026 11:33 PM
Updated: 2:37 AM



A DAP lawmaker accused PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang of suffering from “selective insomnia” following the Marang MP’s latest claim that the DAP promotes Islamophobic propaganda.

Jelutong MP RSN Rayer also slammed Hadi’s description of DAP members as being “pendatang brought in by the colonialists”.

In a statement to Malaysiakini, Rayer questioned why PAS had previously worked with DAP under the Pakatan Rakyat banner, if DAP was indeed spreading Islamophobia.

"Does he remember campaigning for Ramkarpal Singh in the 2014 Bukit Gelugor by-election and asking voters to vote for Ramkarpal in recognition of the late Karpal Singh's dedication as its previous elected representative?

“Who asked voters in the Teluk Intan by-election to vote for DAP's Dyana Sofya Daud in 2014?

"Hadi suffers from ‘selective insomnia’. Why blame Pakatan Harapan for Islamophobic propaganda?” he asked.

Rayer also questioned why PAS is now seemingly seeking to abandon Bersatu, if Harapan is indeed spreading Islamophobic propaganda.

RSN Rayer


"Last but not least. Why break off with Umno before and form an election pact with the nationalist party now?

"It is PAS and Hadi in particular who have always portrayed the DAP as a threat to Islam," Rayer said.


Remember ‘Amanat Hadi’?

He then reminded the PAS president of his “Amanat Hadi” speech in Terengganu in the 1980s, in which he declared opposition to Umno as a form of jihad.

Earlier today, Hadi claimed that Harapan had been promoting Islamophobia, including through its use of the term “Green Wave” to describe PAS’s political rise, with DAP drawing the strongest criticism.

The PAS leader claimed that Islamic teachings should be properly understood in the context of the majority Malay-Muslim natives of Malaysia.

“If Islamic teaching were understood academically and morally with a mind that is healthy and free from fanaticism, while also understanding the narrative that Malaysia is a diverse society dominated by Malay Muslims as the original inhabitants of Nusantara, and not pendatang (outsiders)who were imported by colonisers, a large number of whom are passengers on DAP’s ark which has its own destination which is also boarded by some Malay Muslims who have lost themselves, then Islamophobia would not arise,” he said.

He also claimed that certain quarters within the DAP were spreading a malicious claim that Malays are also immigrants to this land.

“So from which land did the Malays originate? Every other race has its own homeland.

“They fail to realise that the peoples of the archipelago in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula influenced the use of the name Malay as a label for followers of Islam, to the extent that the word became synonymous with Islam.

“Therefore, anyone who embraces Islam is said to have ‘become Malay’, while a Malay who leaves Islam is no longer regarded as Malay,” Hadi claimed.

Hadi did not provide evidence to back his claims that DAP was promoting Islamophobia.

And despite accusing Harapan of using the “Green Wave” term to describe the Islamist party’s rise, it was PAS that popularised the term prior to the last general election.

Not the first time

This is not the first time PAS has accused its political rivals of promoting Islamophobia.

The party has repeatedly faced allegations of using race, religion and royalty (3R) issues in politics.

Three years ago, Hadi was investigated by police over remarks alleged to have touched on 3R issues.

The investigation stemmed from his claim that DAP wanted to preserve the constitutional definition of Islam based on a colonial interpretation that upheld the liberalism and freedoms practised in Western countries.

Two months ago, Hadi said the concept of 3R does not exist within the framework of Islamic politics.

Pak Hadi a.k.a Pinocchio

Anwar asks Negeri Sembilan voters to maintain Pakatan mandate for development continuity

Anwar asks Negeri Sembilan voters to maintain Pakatan mandate for development continuity



Prime Minister and Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the close cooperation between the state and Federal governments had enabled numerous development projects to be implemented, but stressed that more remained to be done.— Bernama pic

First Published: Thursday, 16 Jul 2026 7:50 PM MYT




SEREMBAN, July 16 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on voters to continue supporting Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election to ensure the continuity of development initiatives for the benefit of the people.


In a Facebook post today, Anwar, who is also PH chairman, said the close cooperation between the state and Federal governments had enabled numerous development projects to be implemented, but stressed that more remained to be done.

“Alhamdulillah, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, or Tok Min, has led Negeri Sembilan since 2018 with integrity, humility and a strong sense of responsibility.


“With great humility, I appeal to the people of Negeri Sembilan to continue placing their trust in HARAPAN under Tok Min’s leadership. Do not let the progress we have built together come to a halt halfway,” he said.


Anwar said the mandate would ensure Negeri Sembilan continued to be governed by a clean, stable administration that served the interests of the people.

“Insya-Allah, HARAPAN will continue to uphold this trust to build a more prosperous and progressive future for Negeri Sembilan,” he said.


Nominations for the state election are on Saturday, followed by early voting on July 28 and polling on Aug 1.

For the latest updates on the election, visit https://prn.bernama.com/n9. — Bernama

Jonathan Cook: Two-State Solution Was Always a Sham

Consortium News
Volume 31, Number 191 — Thursday, July 16, 2026


Jonathan Cook: Two-State Solution Was Always a Sham


Israel’s relentless expansion of illegal settlements into the West Bank and East Jerusalem while the E.U., U.S. and Britain look the other way has left any hope of a two-state solution in tatters

Israeli settlers’ “march of the flags” parade through Old Jerusalem in 2018. (Nettadi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

By Jonathan Cook
Jonathan-Cook.net

For decades, the E.U. has devised ever more convoluted ways to avoid penalising Israel’s illegal settlements, even as they devour a two-state solution it claims is the only path to regional peace

If I asked you to cut off your arm, would you do it?

What if I pointed out that that your arm regularly punched a neighbour in the face so violently that it broke their nose and teeth, and left them unconscious? Would you cut your arm off then?

I’m guessing the answer to both questions is a firm, “No.”

Which is exactly why the European Union, Britain and the United States have precisely no intention of severing their support for Israel’s illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, however violent the Jewish colonisers who live on stolen Palestinian land prove to be.

For decades, settler militias — backed by Israeli soldiers — have beaten up Palestinians, shot them, poisoned their wells, chopped down their olive groves, torched their homes, all in an attempt to ethnically cleanse them from their historic homeland.

The relentless expansion of these illegal settlements has left any hope of a two-state solution in tatters. The West Bank is now an archipelago of Palestinian villages and towns isolated from one another by marauding violent settlers, apartheid roads only for Jews, steel and concrete barriers, and army checkpoints.

All of this has happened in full view of Western states over many decades. The International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court, ruled back in 2004 — nearly a quarter of a century ago — that these Jewish settlements violated international law and needed to be dismantled.

It reiterated that demand in a decision two years ago in which it identified Israel as an apartheid state ruling over Palestinians. It warned states to “take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assists in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

ICJ courtroom during a hearing on Israel’s obligations in the Occupied Palestine Territories, April 28, 2025. (UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Frank van Beek)

And yet the West has done nothing meaningful year-after-year as the settlements have stolen more land from Palestinians, made their lives there ever more miserable, and trashed any chance of the West’s supposed ambition of two states living alongside each other.

Remember this when Israel’s apologists tell you to wait for the same court’s definitive ruling — in a year or two, or maybe three — on what it deemed in early 2024 to be a “plausible” genocide in Gaza, just three months into Israel’s mass slaughter there.

Not only will any such ruling be far too late to make any difference to the victims of the genocide, but the U.S., Britain and Europe will do precisely no more to punish Israel for this crime of crimes — one we can see for ourselves without an ICJ ruling — than they have done in punishing Israel for the settlements.


Punching Fist

Why? Because most Western states no more wish to impose a penalty on Israel for its crimes than you would want to amputate a healthy arm.

If they refuse to lift a finger to stop a live-streamed genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, why on earth would anyone imagine they are ready to do anything to stop Israel’s violent settlers ethnically cleansing the West Bank?

The settlements are as deeply integrated into Israel as your arm is attached to your shoulder. And in turn, Israel is as much the punching fist of the imperial West’s war machine as the City of London — and its former tax-haven colonies — are the beating heart of the imperial West’s financial machine.

Western elites cannot imagine a world without Israel as their military thug in the oil-rich Middle East any more than you can imagine life without your arm.

That explains why no one really believed that E.U. foreign ministers, meeting once again this week to discuss banning settlement products — the bare minimum they have long been obligated to do under international law — would reach an agreement.

View of the Europa building, seat of the European Council, on left, and the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission, on right. (Euro Pictures /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0)

More than 100 legal scholars had earlier written to the European Commission’s top trade and foreign policy officials stressing the E.U.’s “international legal obligation.”

But as everyone predicted, E.U. ministers kicked the can down the road — until at least October, when they agreed to more talks about talks.

The E.U. has been delaying meaningful action on dealing with the settlements since at least 2004, when the ICJ ruled them illegal.

A year after that ruling, the E.U. issued a Technical Agreement that removed preferential trade tariffs of the kind Israeli goods enjoy from any items produced in the illegal settlements. Israel agreed only because there were so many loopholes and workarounds it had no practical effect whatsoever.

It was another seven years — in 2012 — before the E.U. started to express concern about these loopholes, including the fact that Israel was routinely mislabelling settlement products as “Made in Israel.”

Fast forward another three years and the E.U. finally got around to pretending to be closing the loopholes. In November 2015, 11 years after the ICJ ruling, the E.U. issued an “interpretative notice” requiring labels on settlement goods to state: “Product from the West Bank (Israeli settlement).”

Again, Israel simply ignored the notice and continued mislabelling products, or blended them with products made in Israel, making it hard to determine the provenance.


Pure Pantomime

Israeli forces in Jenin in the Occupied West Bank on Sept. 2, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Remember, these lengthy, meaningless battles were not about banning settlement products or even imposing punitive tariffs. They were simply about labelling them correctly.

To this day, the overwhelming majority of consumers across the E.U. have no idea, even if items are correctly labelled, which they almost never are, that they are buying products supporting Israel’s violent campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homeland.

It was because of this utter farce that civil society organisations started to noisily accuse the E.U. of complicity in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and demand instead the outright banning of all settlement products.

These critics have now been banging their heads against a brick wall for over a decade. They have still achieved nothing, as this week’s E.U. meeting once again confirms.

Even were they to win a victory a year or two hence on banning settlement products, Israel would still be able to use the same workarounds it has been for the past 22 years to avoid any meaningful impact. European consumers would still be directly subsidising the violence of Jewish settler militias and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes.

All of this has been pure theatre — or more accurately, pantomime — to suggest that some kind of administrative process is in hand, that legal avenues are being pursued, that Israel will one day pay a price for its decades-old programme of ethnically cleansing Palestinians.

And yet nothing ever actually happens. The most the E.U. is prepared to do is throw a sop to its critics by imposing symbolic sanctions on a couple of dozen of the most violent settlers — out of a total settler population of nearly 700,000.

Those settlers did not end up in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by accident. Most were encouraged there by the Israeli state with offers of cheap housing, lower mortgage rates and higher funding of educational and other municipal services.

Note too that this abject failure relates to Israel’s explicit goal in expanding its settlements: to eviscerate the two-state solution the West says it craves as the only way to bring peace to the region.

The fact is Europe, Britain and the U.S. have no interest in the two-state solution. If they did, they would have used the ICJ ruling in 2004 as grounds to ban settlement products, give that ban real teeth, and threaten Israel with a loss of all preferential trade with the West until it abided by international law and removed all obstacles to Palestinian statehood, including the settlements.

They did none of this because that was never their intention.

Their only concern is keeping Israel — their pit bull in the Middle East — fed and watered.

If Israel wants the settlements to continue expelling Palestinians off their lands until there are no Palestinians left on those lands, then the West is not going to naysay it.

Just as if Israel wants to continue deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza for death, as a United Nations inquiry recently determined, then the West will turn a blind eye to that too.

If Israel’s soldiers and Jewish settler militias want to take a U.S. congressperson hostage in the West Bank, as they briefly did to Democrat politician Ro Khanna last week, no Western leader is going to make a fuss about it.

Israel may be a rogue state but it is a rogue state made entirely in the Western elite’s image. The West’s only real concern is in ensuring its own publics don’t realise, as they watch a genocidal state disappear the Palestinians, that they are looking into the mirror.

Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist. He was based in Nazareth, Israel, for 20 years. He returned to the U.K. in 2021. He is the author of three books on the Israel-Palestine conflict: Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish State (2006), Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East(2008) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (2008). If you appreciate his articles, please consider offering your financial support.

This article is from the author’s blog, Jonathan Cook.net

A shipwreck, a massacre and an excuse to invade Taiwan island

A shipwreck, a massacre and an excuse to invade Taiwan island

ByNury Vittachi

July 7, 2026

FOR CENTURIES, Asian and Western sailors shipwrecked in Chinese waters got a nice surprise.

The Chinese government had a rescue policy. Sailors would be given free food and clothing. They would be helped with ship repairs, or even transported home.

This applied to everyone in China’s coastal waters and around Chinese islands such as Taiwan—but the policy was particularly useful to the people of the Kingdom of Ryūkyū, a nation of small islands which depended on the sea for food and trade.

“In fact, the Qing system for repatriating Ryūkyūan shipwreck victims on the shores of China (including Taiwan) settled 401 incidents over the course of the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries,” said historian Paul Barclay in a book on the region (1).

The system grew into a two-way policy with other groups in the China Seas.

“Reciprocal agreements with neighboring powers returned Chinese shipwreck survivors to the Qing realm from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the Ryūkyūs in over 700 incidents during the same period,” Barclay wrote.

Positive actions spread, to everyone’s benefit.

.

A TRAGIC ERROR

However, when a group of Ryūkyū people were shipwrecked by a typhoon on the southern tip of Taiwan in 1872, they made a fatal mistake.

Instead of staying on the Han-dominated west coast of the island, 66 survivors travelled inland and encountered the Taiwanese aboriginal tribes. While sometimes welcoming, native clusters were small and could react in a very hostile manner if they felt threatened or slighted.

After an ostensibly non-hostile encounter with indigenous Taiwanese, the suspicious Ryūkyū shipwreck survivors decided not to take any chances, and ran in fear for their lives. The were given shelter in a trading post run by a Han Chinese man named Old Weng, 73.

.

THE MASSACRE

But the native people, now convinced that the intruders were making a dangerous incursion, tracked them down. They massacred 54 Ryūkyūans in the front yard of the trading post.

The remaining 12 survivors were hidden and protected by Old Weng (who was a Guangdong Hakka named Deng Tianbao) and his son-in-law Yang Youwang. They were kept safe until tensions in the area gradually dissipated.

The Chinese government returned them safely to the Ryūkyū Kingdom, seven months after the typhoon.

.

A JAPANESE PLOT

Two years later, Japanese government officials realized that they could exploit the incident as a casus belli (“excuse for war”) and gain multiple advantages—they wanted control of both Taiwan and the Ryūkyū island kingdom.

They declared the massacred Ryūkyū sailors to be de facto Japanese citizens and said they had no choice but to invade the Chinese island of Taiwan to “avenge” them.

Referring to the indigenous people on the island, the Japanese Commander said: “As sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West every man of these wicked people should surely die by our hands.”

The Japanese army’s endeavors were at first resisted by the Chinese, but the invaders fully took over Taiwan in 1895. But even then, they struggled to control the people they saw as primitive savages, and unrest continued.

.

THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN

In 1910, Japan announced the “Five-Year Plan to Control the Aborigines”.

This had two simple aims – to kill, remove, or subdue the indigenous people of Taiwan, and to take their land and resources for Japan’s own use.

This was remarkable for its cynicism and frankness. Earlier attempts by China’s Qing Dynasty officials to settle the ungovernable parts of the island at least claimed to have mutual benefit in mind: development would help the natives become integrated into modern society.

“But in this case, the human beings in the targeted area were not considered sources of labor power or entrepreneurial skill but were seen instead as obstacles (unless they could be mobilized to subdue other indigenes),” Barclay said.

Modern people may see this as being remarkably like the plot of the first movie in James Camerons Avatar series: the unashamed slaughter of “savages” so that land and resources could be taken by force.

.

THE UNDERDOG WINS

But the “savages” were more resourceful than expected (as was also true in the movie), and shocked the well-armed, wealthy invaders with powerful resistance.

The Japanese started by attacking the Atayal people in the north, in April 1910. They proved much harder to subdue than expected, and far more troops had to be summoned. This process was repeated with other tribes.

From the Japanese side, massacres and vicious atrocities followed, leading to partial success, slowly achieved.

Japanese governor Sakuma Samata reported the end of the Five Year Plan to the Japanese emperor in 1915 and then resigned as governor general of occupied Taiwan.

.

ADOPTING THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN

Ironically, both Russia and China would adopt the notion of the “five year plan” but transformed it into something positive: a system in which major government agencies worked together to hit development targets which would provide measurable per capita benefits.

On October 25, 1945, western forces and the Chinese government officially recognized the end of Japanese rule and the return of the island of Taiwan to Chinese sovereignty.

The people in the former Kingdom of Ryūkyū were not so fortunate. Many residents still consider themselves separate to Japan, but the area is now largely known as a US military hub generally known as Okinawa.

To come right up to date, both Taiwan and Okinawa are key elements in O Plan 5077, a Pentagon operational plan to attack China.

The plan uses Taiwan as a “casus belli”.

It appears that Japanese and American military leaders think alike.

[1. There are many records of these incidents, but the most comprehensive is an academic study, Outcasts of Empire: Japan’s Rule on Taiwan’s “Savage Border,” 1874–1945, by US scholar Paul D. Barclay]

Johor should be a wake-up call for Bersama

Johor should be a wake-up call for Bersama

By Thomas Victor
2 hours ago

BERSAMA’S disappointing showing in the recent Johor election should serve as more than an electoral setback. It should prompt the fledgling party to reassess its strategy if it hopes to become a credible third force before the next general election.


Although few expected Bersama to win a seat, all 15 of its candidates lost their deposits after polling between 3‒6% of the vote.



The result was sobering for a party that had positioned itself as an alternative for voters dissatisfied with the MADANI government but unconvinced by Perikatan Nasional.

Being a new party alone does not explain the outcome. Malaysian voters have shown they are willing to support new political movements when they offer compelling leadership, credible policies and a message that resonates.

MUDA, for example, was registered in 2021 and won a seat under the Pakatan Harapan banner in the 2022 Johor election.


Johor suggests Bersama’s greatest challenge was not its age but its campaign strategy.

Rather than consistently focusing on issues that mattered most to Johoreans, such as the cost of living, jobs, wages and housing affordability, parts of the campaign appeared distracted by issues that generated headlines but had limited local resonance.

One example was Bersama candidate Boo Wei Han’s emphasis on pig farming in Perling. The issue failed to gain significant traction among voters, and he eventually secured only 4.4% of the vote.

Politics is ultimately about understanding voters’ priorities. On that score, Bersama struggled to connect.

Leadership also shaped public perceptions.

The party remains closely associated with its president, Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, whose reputation before GE15 was built on data-driven proposals and ambitious policy ideas. Many voters expected that reputation to translate into effective governance.

His tenure as economy minister, however, attracted criticism over issues such as the rollout of PADU, while several public remarks and unfulfilled pre-election pledges continued to feature in political debate.

Fairly or otherwise, these developments appear to have affected public perceptions of his effectiveness.

Whether justified or not, elections are often shaped as much by perception as by policy. Voters generally look for leaders who project competence, credibility and the ability to unite rather than divide.

If Bersama intends to establish itself as a long-term political force, it may need to broaden its leadership profile instead of relying too heavily on a single personality.

A stronger leadership team with diverse strengths would help demonstrate that the party offers more than one prominent figure.

The challenge is also broader than leadership alone.

Malaysia’s political landscape is evolving, and voters increasingly expect practical solutions to everyday concerns rather than endless political confrontation.

Parties that remain focused on bread-and-butter issues while demonstrating competence are more likely to earn public confidence.

A credible third force would benefit Malaysia’s democracy by giving voters a genuine alternative beyond the existing political blocs.

However, credibility cannot be built on dissatisfaction alone. It must be earned through clear policies, disciplined campaigning and leadership that inspires confidence.

Johor’s election should therefore be seen not simply as a defeat, but as an opportunity for Bersama to regroup, reconnect with voters and refine its strategy before GE16. ‒ July 16, 2026



Thomas Victor
Kluang

Penangites lament growing presence of Mainlanders, snub Chinatown @ Raja Uda dev’t in Butterworth

Penangites lament growing presence of Mainlanders, snub Chinatown @ Raja Uda dev’t in Butterworth

PENANGITES are extremely proud of their island’s heritage and identity. From the gastronomic delights to the local dialects, the Pearl of the Orient elicits strong emotional responses to anything that seeks to dilute or change the island’s unique character.

A case in point is how a new development in the Raja Uda district has caused some consternation among local residents.

Posting on the Penang Today Community Facebook page, presumably Penang resident Wen Wen Yew highlighted the self-styled Chinatown with eyes wide open emojis, denoting astonishment.

The post has attracted 1.4K likes and 141 shares plus scores of comments before it was taken down. Thankfully, FocusM manages to preserve some of the so-called darndest comments.

Jayamas Property

about 2 years ago

Chinatown is 𝙁𝙐𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙎𝙊𝙇𝘿! ⛩️

Closing the deal, we would like to announce that our modern chinese development is officially sold out 💯 Ready to discover more about RU Square, Raja Uda? Keep calm, we still have a lot to offer!

Reach us out for more info: ...

See more

22

Comment

3

Editor’s Note: Chinatown @ Raja Uda is a heritage-themed commercial development by Jayamas Property Group which is a joint development with landowners Woolley Development Sdn Bhd and WD Properties.

The four-story shop office project is situated near the intersection of Jalan Permatang Pauh, Jalan Telaga Air and Jalan Siram in Butterworth, mainland Penang.

It is part of a broader 60-acre integrated commercial and residential precinct known as RU Square which also encompasses sister projects like Nanyang Street and Kings Galleria. As per the Jayamas Property FB post, the project has been “sold out” as of Dec 17, 2024.

Interestingly, some Penangites saw this as further evidence of the invading Chinese Mainlanders trespassing onto their little corner of paradise.

It was noted that Raja Uda was predominantly Chinese, so why the need for a Chinatown, unless it is for Mainlanders.

One even took issue with the signage wording as signifying the presence of foreigners in their midst. “It should be Malaysia Chinese Town,” contended this alarmed citizen.

It was further noted with some apprehension by some observers that the island was already flooded with foreign businesses.

This sentiment was echoed by a Penangite who claimed that George Town was “over run” by Mainlanders. This was exemplified by the number of eateries catering to this demographic.

The sense of unease was apparent in one netizen’s observation that the development could have been called anything except Chinatown. It was suggested “Kampung/Pekan Cina” was a more suitable moniker to reflect the local populace.

In a more local context, it was surmised that there was no need to identify any one area or development with a specific ethnicity. If that was the case, there should also be “Malaytown” and “Indiantown” peppering the nation’s maps.

But that was swiftly met with a retort that such race-specific enclaves did indeed exists with this commenter citing Little India in China Street, Beach Street and Lebuh Pasar on the island itself as well as Kampung Benggali on mainland Penang.

It was also noted there were many “Malaytowns” scattered throughout the Peninsula which even featured lavish European-like palaces.

One bold commenter turned the tables around by asking the complainer to “feel free to leave the country” if he doesn’t like the way it is set up.

Another commenter also saw fit to suggest to non-plussed commenters that they can open a Malaysia-town in China.

It was also pointed out that whatever the name of this development may be, the relevant taxes are still being paid to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (LHDN) and that the project is still under the jurisdiction of the land office/local council (whereby one has to pay quit rent/assessment tax).

One commenter hoped to defuse the situation with a link to the Penang Property Talk site with the marketing hyperbole describing Chinatown @Raja Uda as a development “now set to change the Raja Uda townscape through a well-planned collection of the Chinatown themed commercial spaces within a thriving hotspot of commercial activity.”

Several things to note about this Chinatown.

Firstly, there is increasing unease that businesses from China are taking up valuable real estate with willingness to pay higher prices which local enterprises are not be able to compete against.

Secondly, ‘Chinatowns’ are nothing new. It’s a themed commercial development with some seeking to turn this into an issue of identity politics. Perhaps, as suggested by one unimpressed commenter, that such voices are given short shrift.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how this development fares and if it will be a boon to Penang’s already burgeoning commercial landscape. – July 16, 2026

Penang doesn’t need a “Chinatown” because Penang itself is already one of the world’s great living Chinatowns.

Unlike many cities where Chinatown exists as a small ethnic enclave surrounded by a non-Chinese urban landscape, Chinese culture in Penang is woven into the fabric of the entire island.

From George Town’s UNESCO World Heritage Site to Butterworth, Air Itam, Jelutong, Bukit Mertajam and even Jawi, Chinese heritage, language, food, temples and traditions are part of e...

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Was that why we are hearing those ghastly un-Penang (hence Mainland, or 'Laam-Chjan-Nah-ish)) words like 'Sipek', 'Haw Haw', 'Kot' and many other unspeakables, wakakaka 😂😂😂

Detractors fumed at Melaka UMNO for draining state coffers by needing “7 back-up ADUNs”

Detractors fumed at Melaka UMNO for draining state coffers by needing “7 back-up ADUNs”

MELAKA Chief Minister Datuk Seri Utama Ab Rauf Yusoh has apparently been chastised for unnecessary wastage by ‘orchestrating’ the appointment of up to seven unelected assemblymen – a move which led to en masse resignation of four DAP representatives from their state government portfolios.


Former Melaka UMNO deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Ali Mohamad who deemed the current 28 state assemblymen line-up as “sufficient given it’s not a large state with a large population capacity” claimed that such move would only add unnecessary burden on the state’s coffers.

“Based on the latest official estimate by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the total population of the Melaka state in 2025 is estimated to be around 1.05 million only,” justified the now Bersatu member in a Facebook post.


As per the remuneration rate approved by the Melaka State Assembly, a Melaka state assemblyman receives a fixed allowance of RM12,000/month with effect from January 2024.

However, this cost has yet to include other allowances, employee costs, office costs and other costs that can run up to thousands of ringgit for one state assemblyman/month, thus could be exorbitant on a yearly basis.

7 ADUN lantikan? Pembaziran atau keperluan?

Melaka...bukanlah sebuah negeri bersaiz besar dgn kapasiti penduduk yg ramai jika dibandingkan dengan negeri-negeri yg lain dalam Malaysia

Berdasarkan anggaran rasmi terkini oleh Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM), jumlah penduduk Negeri Melaka pada tahun 2025 dianggarkan seramai sekitar 1.05 juta sahaja

...See more

3.5K

1.6K

524

After all, Melaka is not a state that’s too large to require an administration that involves additional millions of ringgit a year just to add new assemblymen.

Editor’s Note: The justification given by Rauf who has been the Melaka CM since March 31, 2023 is that the seven unelected assemblymen to be appointed would comprise experts and professionals.

“Hence, the objective of the amendment to the state constitution is to make the Melaka state assembly more inclusive, knowledgeable and better equipped to address the increasingly complex challenges of modern governance,” he asserted.

Ab Rauf Yusoh

on Tuesday

𝟕 𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐊

14 Julai 2026 - Alhamdulillah, saya merakamkan penghargaan kepada semua 23 Ahli-Ahli Yang Berhormat yang telah menyokong Rang Undang-Undang Perlembagaan Negeri Melaka (Pindaan) 2026 bagi membolehkan pelantikan tidak lebih daripada tujuh orang Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri yang dilantik.

Perlu dijelaskan di sini bahawa, kerajaan negeri tidak membawa pindaan ini untuk mengurangkan kuasa rakyat, menggantikan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri yang dipilih atau mewujudkan ja...

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Apparently, many Madani backers echoed the views of Mohamad Ali who was a former Dewan Negara deputy president with one commenter reckoned that “the money could be better spent to assist the poor or small traders”.

“Just change the Melaka government then I’ll make sense” was his call.

Veteran journalist and blogger Datuk A. Kadir Jasin also slammed Rauf and his Melaka administration for being “spendthrift by using taxpayers’ money so that politicians and cronies can have fun”.

“They think Melaka is still an absolute monarchy. Or does the CM think that he’s the king,” quipped the national journalism laureate.

Interestingly, this was when some commenters came forward to back resignation by the DAP quartet as “justifiable to defend their principles of won’t accept the seven unelected state assemblymen”.

“Why not choose high-calibre state assemblymen to contest in the state polls from the outset?” they queried.

In short, one commenter described the wastage incurred from having to pay the dues of the seven appointed representative as “a clear sign of being power crazy”.

Another simply berated the Melaka state government of “getting carried away just because of the BN (Barisan Nasional)/UMNO landslide victory in Johor state polls”.

“The power is in the hands of the rakyat, not politicians,” he reminded. – July 16, 2026

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Hentam Hentam Hentam, Pukul Pukul Pukul 👍😂😂😂

Revival of Muafakat Nasional on the cards in N9 state polls after BN ‘leaves out’ 11 seats

Revival of Muafakat Nasional on the cards in N9 state polls after BN ‘leaves out’ 11 seats

Proponents of ummah unification must be rejoicing after it was revealed late last night (July 15) that Barisan Nasional (BN) will contest only 25 of the 36 state seats in the Aug 1 Negeri Sembilan (N9) polls.


Fresh from having toppled Pakatan Harapan (PH) – its Madani ally at the Federal level – in the recent Johor state election by a landslide 48-8 victory, political observers expect BN and in particular ‘big brother’ UMNO to further reinforce its “go solo” quest in anticipation of the 16th General Election (GE16).
Politics (Left)

The Star

21 hours ago

Mohamad said it was important for Barisan to win so that Negri Sembilan could rise and shine again.

SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional will contest 25 of the 36 state seats in the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan polls, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

thestar.com.my

Negri polls: Barisan Nasional to contest 25 of the 36 seats, says Tok Mat

SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional will contest 25 of the 36 state seats in the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan polls, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional will contest 25 of the 36 state seats in the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan polls, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

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While UMNO has incessantly denied any form of collaboration with external parties especially PAS in the Johor state polls, the logic is such that the party could be accorded benefit of doubt given Johor is a renowned BN/UMNO traditional stronghold.

But the ballgame in N9 is different as the powerbase is more balanced with the seemingly pro-DAP Chinese population potentially being the kingmakers by virtue of their 21%-23% population size.


Editor’s Note: UMNO would field candidates in 16 constituencies, followed by MCA (seven) and MIC (two), according to the coalition’s deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (Tok Mat).

In the previous July 2023 state election, BN and PH had contested as a team under the unity government banner. Back then, UMNO contested 17 seats while the MCA and MIC did not contest the election.

Together, they won 31 of the 36 state seats (UMNO held 14 seats) with the remaining five going to Perikatan Nasional (PN).

On Tuesday (July 14), PH confirmed that it would be contesting all 36 seats in the state polls with PKR vying for 16, DAP (11) and Amanah (nine).