Thursday, December 20, 2018

Pakatan - Shiny moment to slimy movement


Star Online - Shiny moment to slimy movement by Azmi Sharom:



This is my final piece for 2018. So I want to wish all of you an advance Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And what a year it has been. If at the end of 2017 you told me that in 2018 we would have a new government and there would be a fistful of Barisan Nasional bigwigs in court being charged for multiple crimes, I would have laughed in your face and asked you to share whatever it was you were smoking. But here we are.

And man, in May there was no need for any sort of substance, legal or otherwise, to feel high. The euphoria was practically tangible. Not for half the population, granted, but for those who voted for change. It was a moment of not just happiness but great pride.

As a university lecturer, I am often travelling abroad (Asean only for small fish like myself) speaking at conferences.

This year, I got to use my country as an example of how people can peacefully change a government and how the democratic process can still work despite the filthy laws and tricks that those in power used and got up to.

For a brief shining moment, we were the symbol of not just democracy but also a movement away from repressive regimes. Not just for our region, but the whole world. I have never felt so proud.



Besides being a wonderful achievement by itself, the election in May also marked a shift in the way that people were thinking. Suddenly, there was hope for the future.

The new government will be corruption-free and progressive and we can start moving forward. Moving forward in a manner that took the interest of all Malaysians at heart. No more politicising of race and religion. No more disrespecting of human rights.

Well, that went south pretty quick.


The expression is just indicating that "It all went wrong/bad (south)." Since some people associate south with down, they use it to take the place of 'down' or 'bad'. So the expression "It all went south from there." just means that everything went wrong from a certain poin

Within a few short months, we have seen the government backing down to ignorance and racial fear-mongering as it made a U-turn on the promise to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).

This was particularly painful because all the points that were raised by the opponents of the treaty were founded on outright lies.

The Icerd allows for – indeed it demands – affirmative action if it is needed. This is exactly what our Constitution says as well, where the special position of Malays and Natives of Sabah and Sarawak can be protected via quotas and the like as long as it is “necessary” and “reasonable”.

To say otherwise is to lie.

With all the machinery at its disposal, the government did not put up a convincing attempt to try to convince the Malays (and it was mainly the Malays who objected) that they had nothing to fear. And how sad is it to live in a country where we can’t say loud and proud that we disagree with racism.




Then there is the U-turn on local elections. This was promised to us and now we are told that it can’t happen because it will be racialised. Exactly how this will occur is not made clear. Once again, Malaysians are expected to just listen to Uncle Government because it knows better than us.


Mahathir: “Local council elections may produce the WRONG results"

What then is the correct results?

As the year comes to a close, instead of yuletide cheer and end-of-year merrymaking, we are now faced with the repulsive sight of slug-like creatures crawling out of their political party to slide towards those in power.

The noxious slime coating their bloated bodies leaves a trail of toxic mucus as they crawl with large pleading eyes to be admitted into a party that has not lost.


If they think that the stench of their previous loathsome life while in power is not going to stick to them like cat poo on the sole of a heavily threaded running shoe, then they are delusional.

But what is this? There is a possibility they will be accepted? Oh no! I realise this is the season of goodwill but this is too much, man.

It is not all over. There is still time to do good work. Institutions can still be reformed.

Ministers learning the ropes can still become experts and do a good job. And as much as we must criticise every bump in the road to reform, we must not give up on the agenda to change this country for the better.

The year started off like any other year – cynical but with the slightest sliver of hope. In the middle of the year, we had one of the most unexpected and significant things to have happened to us as a nation, and now at the end of the year, we are once again brought down to earth.

It is impossible to stay as wide-eyed and optimistic as we were a few short months ago. But we must continue to hope and continue to strive. After all, that’s what we have been doing all this time.






20 comments:

  1. Azmi Sharom is coming from a very different direction from this blog owner.

    Ah Moc has been attacking this government with toxic animosity since the morning of May 10, even before Mahathir was sworn in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With all due respect to Azmi Sharom, he is a liberal, middle-class idealist who is rather far removed from the majority of Malays, especially the rural and lower income urban Malays.

      Delete
  2. Today, what we are witnessing is actually the older Malaysians versus the millennial (liberal) generation. We do not have to guess who is winning? As 2018 draws to a close, we bid farewell to New Malaysia and Malaysian Malaysia. Racial Supremacy is still reigning - alive and kicking, as we welcome 2019.

    ReplyDelete
  3. For balance this response from LKS should also be posted but I suspect it won't, so I do it here:

    QUOTE
    Kit Siang: DAP will quit gov't if New M'sia objective abandoned

    DAP leaders, whether in government or outside, would not hesitate to exit the coalition government if the objective of a New Malaysia is abandoned, said Lim Kit Siang.

    According to him, DAP leaders would never be as “spineless” as MCA leaders.

    “DAP leaders are in government to play an important role to build a New Malaysia and save it from becoming a sham democracy, kakistocracy, failed state and global kleptocracy,” he added.

    The veteran politician mentioned this as one of the reasons DAP would not morph into another MCA after becoming part of the ruling coalition.

    The Iskandar Puteri was responding to a Facebook posting by businessperson Clement Hii, who said Lim became agitated when mentioned that people might see DAP as another MCA if it did not continue to push for its reform agenda.

    Hii also praised Lim's perseverance to fight for a better Malaysia, saying “lesser mortals would have given up”.

    Thanking the businessperson for his compliment, the DAP leader said: “It bears emphasising that DAP has no intention and will never become MCA 2.”

    “There are many reasons why DAP will never become MCA 2, but I will cite only five,” he added.

    The other four reasons are as below:

    1) DAP is a multi-racial party dedicated to the wellbeing and welfare of all races to be found in Malaysia, and not mono-ethnic as in the case of MCA. We represent all Malaysians, whether Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli while the MCA represents or claims to represent only the Chinese in Malaysia.

    2) DAP leaders fight for the rights and interests of all racial groups so long as they are Malaysians, while MCA fights or claims to fight for the rights and interests of only the Chinese in Malaysia.

    This is why DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng sacrificed his political rights in the defence of the rights and dignity of an underaged Malay girl in the 90s when he was disqualified as a MP and jailed in Kajang prison for a year and disenfranchised of his right to vote and to hold elective for five years.

    Guan Eng is the only case of a Malaysian political leader who had crossed racial and religious lines to sacrifice himself.

    3) DAP wants its leaders and members to be in politics to serve the nation and not to serve themselves, whether for wealth, titles or position.

    4) DAP politics of multi-racialism is the only way to build a united and successful Malaysia, for the continuation of the politics of mono-ethnicity can never unite a plural Malaysia.
    UNQUOTE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1) many chinese paper use the term dap "马"首是瞻, a metaphor to mean dap just listen to mahathirs order.

      2) not relevant. what kind of stupid reason is tis?

      3) if really fight for all msian, y stress on 'malay' girl?

      4) wants n do is 2 diff concept. tell us how? by reduce utar allocation?

      5) fair, but no one see dap as multi racial.


      lks, when we claim dap is mca, it mean u/dap r a dog, however yr reply is like those of ck, running in circle. what a stupid idiot who cant answer a straight forward assertion.

      Delete
    2. Wakakakakaka…

      Saihe lah!

      Only rabid dog runs in circle & barking with foamy mouth.

      Ignore IT! Don't waste time.

      Delete
    3. when adult talk, kid shut up n listen.

      Delete
  4. Why is DAP not MCA?

    It all it's years of existence before GE14 did MCA ever threaten to quit the BN government? Heck no.

    In fact even after GE14, at their recent AGM they still didn't have the balls to quit BN; they meekly asked that BN be dissolved, only to be mocked by UMNO: "Who is MCA...?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M.C.A. Mou Cojones Association...

      Cantonese Spanish English... wkakakaa

      Delete
  5. If DAP eventually carries out this threat, I expect that we will see GE15 sooner than most of us think.

    "We’ll leave PH govt if New Malaysia objectives abandoned, says Kit Siang"

    https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/12/21/well-leave-ph-govt-if-new-malaysia-objectives-abandoned-says-kit-siang/

    According to Malaysiakini's inforgraphic carried on Helen Ang's post, Pakatan Harapan has a simple majority of 119 seats in parliament right now, up from 113 just after GE14 and if DAP pulls out of PH, that leaves PH with 77 seats in parliament, versus DAP with 42, BN (UMNO +MCA + MIC) with 39, Gabungan Parti Sarawak with 19, PAS with 18, Independents (13), Warisan with 9, others in East Malaysia (STAR, UPKO, PBRS and PBS) with 4 and one seat (Cameron Highlands) remaining to be filled.

    https://helenang.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/anwar-vs-mahathir-whose-got-magic-number-112/

    It does not take rocket science to see that if DAP pulls out of PH, no party, pact or coalition right now will have the 112 seats in parliament to have a simple majority, not even if the Sabah and Sarawak parties with a total of 32 seats join PH, giving a total or 109 seats or 110 seats if PH wins Cameron Highlands in the byelection, unless some or all of the 13 independents join one of the PH parties.

    On the other hand, if the Sabah and Sarawak parties stay as they are and the 13 independents all join what's left of PH, they will only have a total of 90 seats.

    If UMNO and PAS form an alliance, the BN + PAS alliance will have 57 seats or less than one-third of the seats in parliament.

    Only if the 13 independents, plus enough of the 37 remaining UMNO MPs switch to PH, will it be possible for them to secure a simple majority in parliament, or if PH allies with PAS again.

    It looks like if DAP pulls out of PH, the only option left for Malaysia will be to hold the next general elections sooner than 2023, as the country will otherwise be ungovernable at federal level, with consequences to the economy and society.

    Meanwhile, most state governments will be able to carry on ruling as effectively as they currently do.

    ReplyDelete
  6. not necessary to hold GE15 - there's such an animal as a "minority" govt, admittedly very unstable but still doable.

    Also, PH (minus DAP) has 77 according to your info plus UMNO's 39 = 116 kowtim - DAP pulling out will push malay-dominated ph towards umno

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  7. Fragmenting the 222-seats will mean a Rollicking Rock-and-Roll First World Parliament. Ideally no party should have more than 30% of the seats. Then every bill will be properly debated and challenged.

    NO TO 2/3 MAJORITY.

    I'm Lovin' It....!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. If PH (minus DAP) teams up with UMNO to form a government with a simple majority,the Malay-Chinese divide will be complete and after that dunno what next.

    However, I don't think there will be enough PKR MP's willing to go along with such a tie up, thus still resulting in a minority government.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Forget about the numbers. Because Parliament can be abolished.

    Someone will likely create new May 13 before he goes to hell. Curfew can be announced. Military & Police vehicles on streets.

    Then a new pro-American asset/dictator from the Military/MACC/Special Branch/Police blessed by Someone, will govern Malaysia and will be recognised by the American and European govts the same day.

    This American asset will start a putsch against Chinese DAP and will be very popular with the Malays as a result...

    Now which Security Dictator-like Malay has the support of the Sultans, Military, Police and Malay Underground.There is no law stopping him once a security lock-down is launched by the Security Services...Parliament and Constitution suspended. Emergency applies.....

    Can a Crown Prince be appointed PM under Emergency Ordinances?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Such a possibility of major civil strife being engineered, an emergency being declared followed my military or police state rule has crossed my mind

      As for a U.S. imperialist puppet being installed as leader, Pakatoons and pro-Pakatan or anti-BN NGO-types hate me for bring up this video:-

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OekttCZlQM8

      Whilst, International Republican Institute chief Daniel Twinning did not identify who he met in the Prime Minister's Office by name but reading between the lines in Daniel Twinning's narrative, it's not difficult to figure out who it is, and it obviously it was not the tea lady or the jamban cleaner.

      Read my reply to CK where I describe how Hitler and his NAZI party came to absolute power in Germany in stages.

      Delete
    2. Sorry! My reply to TS (not CK)

      Delete
  10. Minority government can work in countries where politicians from different parties can sit together to work out matters of common national interest.

    In Malaysia where politics is about Hidup Bangsa (fill in Melayu/India/China/Kadazan etc) or Hidup Agama (fill in Islam/Kristian/Hindu/Buddha/Atheist) , it is a recipe for disaster.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes and no, Monsterball.

      From the European, U.K. and Australian experience, the party with the largest number of seats below 50% in parliament has and to find another party with close enough policies to achieve a majority in parliament and effectively rule and that is how Pakatan Harapan came to power,though formed as a pact before the elections, whilst Barisan National was a registered coalition but whatever, Malaysia has been governed by coalition governments for a long time now, with the coalition or pact having the majority (over 50%) of seats in parliament.

      In such a scenario, the nature of government depends upon the composition of coalition partners, whether across ethnic and religious lines or along ethnic and religious lines and if coalitions of the latter type come to power,then it could result in problems for the other side.

      Delete
  11. Likely that a minority government will allow for more democract and vibrancy but does our constitution allow for that in a first past the post electoral system where the party or parties with over 50% of the seats forms the government?

    In the U.K. from which our Westminster-style parliament is based, the Conservatives had to form a coalition in parliament with the Liberal Democrats in order to qualify to become the government and the same in Australia around the same time.

    Such parliamentary or legislature coalitions happen often in Europe where no one party wins over 50% of the seats but the policies of coalition member parties must be close enough to allow for compromise and for the coalition to last for the full term.

    As for no party having more than 30% of seats, and the party with the largest number of seats forms a minority government, then any bills past will have to meet the approval of several parties, which makes for a healthy, vibrant democracy on the one hand, but can also lead to a dysfunctional democracy where few bills are passed and little gets done on the other.

    However, don't forget that the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NAZIs) came to power in the German parliament (Reichstag), not with the majority (over 50%) but the largest percentage of seats below 50%, so Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany whilst the NAZIs had to rule in coalition initially, until the fire at the Reichstag building one month later, which was blamed on arson by communists, after which, President Paul von Hindenburg passed an emergency decree to suspend civil liberties, after which arrests of communists, trade unionists and so forth were arrested, including elected communists members of the Reichstag and with the opposition gone, the Nazis had over 50% of seats in the parliament, which allowed Hitler to consolidate power and the rest is history.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

    So the NAZIs became a minority government through elections and had to rule in agreement with other, then suspected arson, an emergency is declared, the opposition in the Reichstag eliminated, leaving the NAZIs with the majority of seats in the Reichstag, after which dictatorial rule followed.

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  12. What we have today, if you believe some people, is already a minority government. They complain that a party with 13 seats out of 222 is ruling the country.

    So what are we debating about?

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