Denying UMNO 2/3 - Opposition dream but with different objectives?

Umno indicates it is shifting into high gear for the general election, with Malaysiakini reporting that PM AAB will be conducting a fresh round of nationwide political roadshows plus meetings with all BN leaders and heads of his Umno party.

Malaysiakini also reported in Umno leaders barred from leaving country that Umno secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad has instructed all 191 Umno party divisions nationwide to stop all its party office bearers from leaving the country to prepare for the upcoming polls. Also, party leaders - at the state, division and branch levels – have been urged to ensure that all Umno members are not allowed to leave the country during this period.

... perhaps with the unique exception of Asahan in neighbouring Sumatra ;-) – please read my earlier post Religious Devotion of Malaysian Politicians.

The rumour is that it’ll be March, just one month before Anwar Ibrahim clears the legal block on his ability to contest in elections, because of his past conviction from corruption charges.

It’ll also provide the BN, especially the Chinese-based parties, enough time to soothe some ruffled feathers among their traditional supporters. Maybe the public servants may be due a salary windfall too plus all sorts of goodies for others that Father Christmas Pak Lah will be doling out. I would not even discount some Ang Pows of sorts in early February.

Everyone concedes that the BN or even Umno alone (inclusive of its Sabah branch allegedly with 1 million plus voters from the 10 lost tribes who ‘accidentally wandered off’ into Mabuhay Land and have now been safely repatriated) will win the election.

Indeed the question (or hope) is not who will win but rather how much will Umno win?

Voila, the magic 2/3, that Holy Grail of Malaysian parliamentary politics, the arcane esoteric mantra in fractional maths that holds the key to unbridled power, power thus far enjoyed by the Chosen Ones.

If Umno has the 2/3 majority it can perform double flip-back somersaults in legislation, like amending the constitution to extend the age limit of just one sole but crucial (to Umno) public servant, and various other legislative atrocities.

If Umno is denied that 2/3 it then can’t, but there have been recent rumours, reported in Malaysiakini, of party secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad allegedly directing Umno leaders to carry out a racial issue action plan - and don't we just know what racial issue ACTION plan had been.

If that allegation was indeed true, has it been one of those disingenuous Umno warnings that’s issued via the kopitiam but officially and publicly repudiated.

But let’s leave that aside for a while and imagine what Lim Kit Siang has been dreaming of all these years, that Umno will be denied the magic 2/3 majority.

Lim will then realize his dreams to prevent Umno and its compliant BN component parties from messing around with the Constitution, laws and rules to suit its nefarious purposes, taking the political system further and further away from true democracy and its inherent check and balance safeguards.

Anwar Ibrahim will then realize his dreams to prevent Umno and its compliant BN component parties from messing around with the ……..

I suspect Anwar will be even more joyful than Lim Kit Siang.

First there was GAN or Gerakan Anti Najib – with all sorts of campaign, for example:

(1) The story about a tussle going on within Umno, and rumours of a secret alliance between KJ and Anwar, or none too subtle hints for KJ to enlist Anwar to help in the young Prince’s battle against Najib when Daddy-O retires. I suspect KJ wisely declines full enlistment though I wouldn’t put it past him to 'use' AI as AI imagines he could 'use' KJ.

(2) The Altantuuyaa Shariibuu murder case being exploited to the last grit of the poor Mongolian ashes to blacken Najib’s name
etc

(3) Then, there was the court case against Anwar’s alleged wrongful dismissal from Umno and the DPM’s position by former PM Dr Mahathir. Had that case been won by Anwar Ibrtahim, Umno would have been in a tight spot, with a wrongful dismissal to be righted and an incumbent NO 2 (coincidentally Najib) still requiring to be treated correctly. A successful GAN would have solve the problem, killing two birds with one Mongolian stone.

Then some sort of reprieve from lost hope came in the form of a ‘leak from Heaven’, that marvellous Lingam videotape, miraculously appearing at a crucial juncture, perhaps indicating high powered strategy taking place at where strategy would be usually conceived, at the very top of the Top.

Was the emergence of the Lingam videotape an act of born-again conscience or a subtle warning to you-know-who not to make too much waves or suffer the return of Anwar Ibrahim via a discredited judiciary and the resurrection of his case against wrongful dismissal?

But 2/3 majority! If Umno does fail to achieve that magic figure, what is likely to happen next?

If PKR wins some parliamentary seats, which hopefully it should if DAP capitulates after the pressure of being badmouthed as an uncooperative opposition party which refuses to sacrifice to dear PKR some of its (DAP) traditionally contested seats, we then need post-election to ask:

(1) How many seats does Umno require to make up 2/3?
(2) How many seats has PKR won?
(3) How many of PKR’s seats are held by the Pure Ones*?

* Impure Ones may not take kindly to grubby post election horse trading

You work out the rest of the mathematics.

In RPK’s Trojan Horses in the opposition ranks he concluded with:

I believe the opposition leaders are smart enough to know what needs to be done. It is just that many within the ranks of the opposition leaders are Trojan Horses planted in the opposition by Barisan Nasional to ensure that the opposition remains divided and continues squabbling over petty issues so that a very weak Barisan Nasional can remain in power in spite of it being so weak.

I just hope that these Trojan Horses do not include people like Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, Husam Musa and those many others who are the main decision-makers and who will determine whether the opposition continues as a weak opposition while an even weaker Barisan and who will determine whether the opposition continues as a weak opposition while an even weaker Barisan Nasional stays on as the government.

Re-read the last sentence, the part on “I just hope that these Trojan Horses do not include people like Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, Husam Musa ...”

That is the brilliance of RPK and his intellectual gamesmanship as he thumbs his nose at his readers, challenging them to discern the Truth that he has daringly left staring out from his article.

That’s my take ;-)

Naziism lives

Columnist Ted Rall wrote (extracts):

As commander of a Nazi einsatzgruppen death squad in occupied Poland, Dr. Werner Best came to believe that the most effective response to terrorism was collective punishment. After the fall of France he went on to draft the Third Reich's counterterrorism policy for countries occupied by Germany. Towns where acts of ‘passive’ resistance such as the cutting of telegraph cables had taken place were placed under curfews, fined and slapped with travel restrictions. ‘Active’ resistance - the killing of a German soldier - would be met by reprisal killings of local civilians. [...]

Eventually Hitler himself got into the act. Convinced that collective punishment was failing because it wasn't severe enough, the führer issued a September 1941 order to use ‘the harshest measures’ against civilians in areas where the Resistance was active. Arguing that ‘only the [collective] death penalty can be a real means of deterrence’, Hitler ordered that 50 civilians be executed for each German soldier killed.

Back to the future, Al Jazeera reported that the UN has criticised Israel for conducting collective punishment on Gaza's population whenever it responds to security threats such as rocket attacks by militant groups.

The Israelis would sent its fighter jets on strike missions in northern Gaza which would invariably end up with more civilian deaths, mostly women and chidren, rather than those who launched the rockets.

Additionally, when Israeli soldiers recently captured four (they claimed) Hamas fighters, and took them to Israel for questioning, the troops also arrested family members of the fighters. Another favourite Israeli practice woudl be to demolish the houses of the families of terrorists. I read an American caustically proposing a new State flag for Israel which has a bulldozer in the place of the Star of David.

More than 38 Palestinians have now been killed since Monday.

Al Jazeera reported that Israel bombed four targets in Gaza on Friday, including an office block in a crowded part of the city. The building was reduced to rubble, killing one woman and injuring almost 50 other people.

Al Jazeera's correspondent Jacky Rowland says the Israeli onslaught in Gaza is making the position of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, increasingly difficult. Khalil Shaheen, a political analyst based in Ramallah in the West Bank, agrees that Abbas has been placed in an impossible situation.

Khalil Shaheen said: "He [Abbas] is trying to continue with negotiations while Israel is continuing attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. This equation will not lead anyone anywhere, and he will have to take a political stand that will put an an end to the negotiations due to the Israeli escalation of violence."

The reality is Israel does not want peace because 'peace' will thwart its grand design. More of this later.

When President Bush embarked on his so-called ‘peace mission’ to Israel and Palestine, many couldn’t help but laugh at him. This was a Bush who, apart from launching illegal wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, talked about ‘bringing democracy’ to Palestine but sabotaging the democratically elected Hamas government when his Israeli master told him to. Bush and his Israel bosses, Ariel Sharon and then Ehud Olmert, went about putting up a puppet Palestinian government by endorsing a minority Fatah government.

If fact in earlier years, Bush and Israel prevented elections in Palestine until after Yasser Arafat passed away because they didn’t want a world-recognised democratically elected government headed by Yasser Arafat. No way, Jose, not when the head of a democratically elected Palestinian government would be the ‘wrong man’ for Mother Israel.

‘Democracy’ in Palestine to Bush and Israel means only one thing, that the associated elections must produce the same results as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, American puppet governments. And where necessary, the election in those country would be preceded by war and occupation, of course to teach the natives about American styled ‘democracy’ which has been designed for colonies.

In earlier years there were similar such cases in South Korea, Taiwan, South Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines. Indonesia (under Suharto), Pakistan and Egypt and (at one time) Uzbekistan, etc have the sort of 'democratic' governments that the US government prefers. And they didn't even have an Israel to contend with.

Anyway, when Bush started his meaningless journey he made stern calls to Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders and to cease building new settlements in the Palestinian West Bank as had been agreed at the recent and totally useless Annapolis talks hosted by Bush, but just after two days of stay under Israeli ‘care’ he changed his stand 180 degrees around, stating that there is no possible return to the 1967 borders and that Israel has the right to continue its development of new settlements.

Significantly, among his entourage, is ultra neocon Zionist, Elliot Abrams, a man who like Donald Feith has been perceived by many to be more Israeli than American. With a semi-moronic simpleton like George Bush, his neocon advisors would have him taking a stand like an Ariel Sharon redux within 24 hours.

Moderate Arabs may be prepared to live with an Israeli entity which doesn't oppress Palestinians, but the stand that there will ‘...no possible return to the 1967 borders ...’ means there will never ever be peace.

UN Sec-Gen Ban joined Holmes on Friday in urging Israel to end the blockade of Gaza, currently the world’s biggest prison. Ban said Israel cutting off the Gaza population from fuel supplies needed to pump water and generate electricity for homes and hospitals and food, medical and relief items is inhumane.

I say the Israelis are like born-again-Nazis.

Isolating Gaza and the West Bank like islands in Israeli military controlled zones is not new and has a sinister purpose.

In his article on the Nazi, Ted Rall said Dr Werner Best, the Nazi proponent of group punishment, was trying to protect German troops.

But the Israelis aim is more than the mere protection of its soldiers or illegal settlers. Its isolation of Gaza and West Bank is not the mere encircling of the two Palestinian enclaves (or prisons) for security reasons. Within those enclaves are further military sub-enclaves, with hundreds of military check points. The sole aim is to hamper, slow down, deny, frustrate and thwart Palestinians farmers, traders and travellers.

The strategy is to so demoralize and weaken the resolve of the Palestinians to remain in Gaza or the West Bank so that out of lost hope, wretched misery and desperation they will seek to migrate elsewhere, any f*-where. When that happens or a situation close enough, Israel will annex both pieces of Palestinian real estates.

In fact, when he was active, Ariel Sharon had repetitively pronounced Jordan as the homeland for Palestinians and for them to move over there. Israel aims to annex the entire Palestinian land, which to them are the sacred lands of Judea and Samarra.

And why won’t Israel annex the occupied territories now or earlier? Not with 5 million Palestinians there. When you annex lands, you annex or get their population as well. An Israel having 5 million Arabs as part of their population in a Greater Davidic Israel would be far too perilous and self defeating to a Jewish State.

Too bad for the Israelis they can’t indulge in what their biblical ancestors had done to the Amalekites, namely genocide to solve their problem of ensuring a Jewish-majority status for a Greater Israel, though at times we have seen isolated models of the Israeli atavistic propensity at Deir Yassin, Sabra and Shatila and their vicious malicious attacks of Southern Lebanon (Qana) and the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure (even in the north) in the recent conflict.

Ted Rall wrote of Israel’s Nazi behavior in Lebanon:

In response to criticism that Israel was using ‘disproportionate’ force against Lebanon, its ambassador to the United Nations told a cheering mob in New York: "You're damned right we are!" Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) chimed in: "Since when should a response to aggression and murder be proportionate?"

That was the response of an arrogant Israeli ambassador about Israel’s Nazi conduct in Lebanon to a cheering Jewish crowd in New York. And though Republican Jerrold Nadler might not have realised it at that time when he was currying favour with American Jewish voters, his shameless comments actually justifies the Palestinian responses to Israeli atrocities and aggressions.

Ted Rall said: Congressman Nadler ought to catch up on his reading. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which has been signed and ratified by both Israel and the United States and was drafted in response to the kinds of Nazi atrocities described at the beginning of this column, specifically prohibits collective punishment. As a treaty obligation, it is U.S. law. It is Israeli law.

Nothing prevents a nation from defending itself or going after those who commit heinous crimes--which include kidnapping--against its citizens. Understanding the difference between self-defense and collective punishment is what separates Israel and the U.S.--on paper, anyway--from the Nazis.

Heil Hitler, Heil Israel, Heil Ariel Sharon, Heil Ehud Olmert.

Abomination

Abomination would be the word to use after you have read and contrasted two alleged corruption cases.

A week ago I posted What's missing in Malaysian politics?, based on what I read in Malaysiakini about Visit Malaysia Year - The 'Korean scandal'.

In the Malaysiakini article it was alleged that director of Tourism Malaysia (TM) Seoul Abdul Mutalib Awang and TM North Asian regional director Ramzi Abu Yazid had abused their powers of management to embezzle funds meant for promoting Malaysia as a holiday destination to South Koreans - and mind you, with the whistleblowers furnishing Malaysiakini with documentary evidence.

I also read that Ramzi was promoted after the disgraceful revelation.

And I predicted that in accordance with Malaysia Boleh Standard Operating Procedures, no action would be taken.

Oh, did I mention that in my post I read that Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was allegedly aware of the irregularities but chose not to act on the alleged scandal, and that furthermore he and his family went on a skiing trip with Mutalib’s family when the Minsiter visited South Korea a few weeks ago - all those cosy chummy co-skiing even after he knew about the serious allegations of corruption against Mutalib.

Today I read, again in Malaysiakini, that Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, an interested party implicated in the alleged irregularities, said an internal probe carried out by his own ministry showed that there were no irregularities on the conduct of Mutalib and Ramzi.

Doesn’t this Minister know of the principle of governance called ‘conflict of interest’?

This is PM AAB’s Islam Hadhari in action where his ministers have developed hides as thick as a Centurion tank, and with no sense of (or nonsense about) accountability.

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini tells us that Police probe alleged misuse of Hindraf funds. This indicates that the government intends to flog Hindraf leaders until Indian Malaysians’ morale improves.

Musuh dalam opposition selimut - DAP or PKR?

Raja Petra Kamarudin continues his attack on the DAP that I mentioned in Politicking amongst opposition parties.

As I mentioned then, “... by attempting to read between RPK’s lines* I reckon he was saying if the DAP refuses to play ball, the opposition voters, even DAP supporters, should abandon the DAP and instead vote for PKR if there is a 3-corner fight.”

* in his The ten-year mood swings

Needless to say, PKR and RPK (no anagrammatic pun intended) believe that the DAP will be playing hardball in negotiations for seat allocations in Perak and perhaps even Sarawak. Afterall, Malaysiakini had stated in a recent news article about the worrying DAP-PKR seat talks: Perak, Sarawak the remaining obstacles, which must have been in the PKR leadership's mind.

And why shouldn’t the DAP (play hardball, that is)? The party has performed well with the voters returning them in the last general election and Sarawak’s State election.

By comparison, in the two mentioned states, who, what and where was the PKR, one may well ask? So why should the DAP sacrifice any of their stronghold seats or those it feels it has a damn good chance to win in the coming general election?

In RPK’s latest article Trojan Horses in the opposition ranks he piles the pressure continuously on the DAP in a virtual diatribe against the leading Opposition party, with several issues including Islam thrown in.

But before I discuss that, I thought I would mention RPK also shot quite a caustic if not libellous comment at Nallakarupan. RPK wrote:

"Take the case of Nallakarupan. He was almost allowed to contest the recent Ijok by-election. At the eleventh hour he was dropped in favour of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim. No doubt, many thought that an Indian should have contested that seat and the fact that the Indian was sidelined in favour of a Malay attracted allegations of racial discrimination. But Nallakarupan is a known pimp who procures women for the rich and powerful, in particular rich and powerful politicians who walk in the corridors of power. And he is an Umno Trojan Horse. Dropping him was probably the best decision Anwar Ibrahim has ever made in four years."

Of course when Indian Nallakarupan was dropped from Malay-majority Ijok in favour of Malay Khalid Ibrahim, he was not yet a ‘pimp’.

And when asked by world’s greatest political reformer not to participate in a so-called democratic contest for a VP position in PKR during the party’s general assembly (no doubt a de facto democratic procedure in PKR), he also wasn’t yet a ‘pimp’.

It was only after he left and started criticising the Renaissance Man of Asia that he became “a known pimp who procures women for the rich and powerful, in particular rich and powerful politicians who walk in the corridors of power”.

Hmmm, I wonder which rich and powerful politician, who then walked in the corridors of power, Nalla had procured women for?

If RPK dares to sneer at Nalla in such insulting manner, and not fear defamation, he must have a few facts up his sleeve.

Anyway, never mind – let’s get back to RPK’s diatribe against DAP.

DAP has been serially criticised as follows:

(1) The DAP suffers from Trojan Horse-itis and I am not talking about computer virus. This is virtually saying the DAP may possibly be acting as a 'musuh dalam The Opposition selimut' to screw the Opposition camp up. Considering that Lim Senior and Junior and various DAP leaders and members had chosen to live in Spartan opposition (with Junior even going to jail for an underage Malay girl who was unscrupulously ‘used’) this must surely be the most absurd accusation I have heard, but as I said, RPK is not described as a ‘brilliant strategist/tactician’ for nothing - nothing personal, it's just politics!

If I were a voter in a constituency where there is a 3-corner fight, and I hate the BN, which opposition party, DAP or PKR, would I choose?

Well, let’s see? But ... but ... but ... surely the DAP can’t be a Trojan Horse?

Why not! Look, look, look at Lee Lam Thye – didn’t RPK write “DAP too has seen people like Lee Lam Thye and others eventually leave the party to go back to work for their real boss, Barisan Nasional.”

Now I know you young voters hate LLT because AFTER RETIREMENT from politics, that former DAP man had the damn cheek to work for the government, as reminded of us by none other than RPK.

That LLT Trojan Horse is so unlike a brave resolute Anwar Ibrahim who though STILL VERY MUCH IN POLITICS but only out of the kindness of his patriotic heart had offered his help to AAB during the JB-Singapore bridge fiasco. Then I had blogged in A Bridge Too Far - Anwar Ibrahim:

Anwar has offered assistance to the government, saying he could draw from his experience in the government, including as finance minister between 1993 and 1998. That’s a fantastic CV, man.

Anwar continued: “I would not discount any possible meeting with Abdullah [AAB lah] if he were to ask my views on the issues ... like the negotiations with Singapore on the bridge and even information on the negotiations with Indonesia on border issues.”

...

Mind you, Anwar assured us his offer does not imply a wish to rejoin UMNO - of course not! Everyone knows the UMNO-led government always gets outsiders to negotiate with foreign governments on its behalf. Anwar said he has already decided against rejoining UMNO. Yes sir, and I hope PKR people can relax with his assurance of fidelity.

And he explained his motive for offering himself to AAB: “I will not be serving the government. But I am a Malaysian and very loyal to the country and will do my best to serve.”

Thank you Datuk.

Thank goodness loyal Malaysian Anwar is so unlike that disloyal DAP Trojan Horse LLT who dares to work for Malaysian government agencies.

(2) The DAP is “... taking the religion of the Malays as the enemy ...”, stemming from its opposition to PAS as a coalition partner that PKR has been promoting, all because of PAS’ religious ideology.

Now, if I were a Malay voter in a constituency where there is a 3-corner fight, and I hate the BN and possibly believe that the 'inner circle' of PKR is nothing more than another UMNO branch hanging out in exile until hopefully daddy calls them home, one which I really doesn’t want to vote for, but ... but ... but ... then, should I vote DAP who considers Muslims as its enemy?

(3) (And in the same breath) The DAP has an agreement with PKR and PAS. Aiyoh, didn’t RPK write "...PAS, DAP and PKR had agreed on how to carve up the state ...". Now isn’t that like a pact?

KNN, the DAP only denies it because as RPK reminded us, the Gerakan exposed this so-called agreement. And f* that kayteemoc blogger who in his previous related post Politicking amongst opposition parties had exposed the allegation of the DAP having an agreement with PAS as not true.

Sh*t, that bloody Penang blogger just cut & paste from Malaysiakini that only DAP and PKR had agreed on the 9th January 2008 to have a united front, and in Penang only against the BN in the general election. And that PKR is yet to finalize any agreement with PAS in Penang as the one it has concluded with DAP.

(4) The DAP is being stingy against Hindraf leaders by not offering seats to at least of them who are DAP supporter.

And if I were an Indian voter in a constituency where there is a 3-corner fight, and I hate the BN, which opposition party, DAP or PKR, would I choose?

But ... but ...but ... didn’t RPK ask the same of PKR and PAS too? Ya, but which political party is the natural party for Indian opposition. Why muddy the water with PAS? Its’ that bloody DAP who is not playing ball with Hindraf – c’mon, let’s all vote for PKR.

But isn’t PKR against Indians – nah, didn’t RPK said that Nalla is a ‘pimp’ for BN!

But what about Kulasegaran? F* him, he's probably just another DAP-BN Trojan Horse lah!

I continue to admire this man’s apparently strange (but only at the surface) but in reality brilliant spin tactic leading towards a grand strategy which I, as mentioned in an earlier post, will endeavour in my amateurish way to analyze.

But … to be continued …

Tony Pua, what say you on PKR's increased fuel subsidy?

Malaysiakini tells us that PKR claimed the Gov't can afford fuel subsidies.

What triggered this claim by Tian Chua had been government ministers averring the opposition would bankrupt the country by reducing fuel prices should the latter come into power.

PKR information chief Tian Chua insisted that the government is capable of maintaining or even reducing fuel prices despite soaring global crude oil prices. He said Petronas would be making oodles of lollies because of the current record high crude oil prices. He wants the profits to be used as fuel subsidies.

I am personally not in favour of subsidy of any sorts, except for education.

For a start. a two or more tiered pricing system always lend itself to corrupt practice where illegal siphoning of subsidized fuel across the tiered system (basically pilfering) would invariably occur. The corruption would invariably involved government officials even right up to the very top.

Then, why should we subsidize the 1st World Singaporeans who come across the causeway on weekends? No doubt this is just a petty point but it annoys me mucho.

No, I prefer to see the fuel profits invested for our future, like developing a world class education system all the way right up to tertiary level, water and other essential services, environment, research facilities, technology, infrastructure, etc.

While I wouldn’t go to the extent of echoing the government ministers’ accusation (a bit rich when they are the ones ripping off the country) I am disappointed that dear Tian Chua is adopting crowd-pleasing policies rather than providing responsible leadership.

But readers, what say you? Do you support Tian Chua’s policy on fuel subsidy, even to the extent of reducing the current prices? I wonder what would Tony Pua say of Tian's proposal?

Palestinians cannot rely on unfair umpire

Extracts from al Jazeera:

Quote: "I fear that President Bush's visit will be no more than a public relations stunt to bolster the shaky Ehud Olmert's government" - Nehad Ismail, London

Bush, the US president, wrapped up his visit to the Holy Land walking in the footsteps of Jesus at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, but few observers expect the miracle of peace to come in the American leader's wake.

Bush declared his intention was to nudge both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to sign up to a treaty before he leaves the White House in a year's time.

However, ordinary Palestinians felt that it was their president, Mahmoud Abbas, who was getting all the nudges while Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, was getting the winks.

President Bush said that the occupation had to end, but in the same breath indicated there would be no return to the borders that existed before the 1967 war.

That seems to mean that he would allow Israel to keep the large settlement blocks built illegally on occupied Palestinian land.

The right of return for Palestinian refugees was also publicly buried, replaced by a compensation formula, finally turning the presidential back on UN resolutions that have sustained Palestinian hopes for generations.

As for the need to provide the Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem, Bush described the issue as a "tough one" and said he would leave it to the negotiating teams.

The Palestinians have long known the United States cannot be relied upon to be an impartial referee in their dispute with the Israelis but Bush managed to rub salt in that long-lasting wound during his three-day visit.

Politicking amongst opposition parties

I have to smile at Raja Petra Kamarudin’s conclusion in his article titled The ten-year mood swings in his Malaysia-Today blog. He wrote (relevant extracts only):

If the Malays and non-Malays unite under a united opposition we can see a 50-50 split in the votes. Of course, Barisan Nasional will still form the government. But it will be without a two-thirds majority and with the loss of a few states.

[...]

Yes, let us force the opposition to unite. And if they don't then let us boycott the opposition. Let us show them we mean business. As Lim Kit Siang said, “The people are the boss.” So let us show them that we really are the boss by telling them what we want and by rejecting them if they refuse to listen to the boss. We want 80 opposition members in Parliament. And we will get it even if we have to vote against the opposition or by not coming out to vote just to teach the opposition a lesson and to show them that if we can't have it our way then we do not want it any way.

The opposition is arrogant. The opposition has a large ego. They think we need them so they can do what they like. It is time they learned that we do not need them but it is they who need us. Malaysia Today will soon launch a campaign called ONE OPPOSITION OR NO OPPOSITION. The civil society movements and NGOs will soon launch a PEOPLES' DECLARATION or DEKLARASI RAKYAT. If the ruling party accepts this Declaration we shall support them. Whomsoever accepts it we shall support them, never mind which party they are from. It is time we took back the streets. It is time we took back the ballot box. It is time the Wakil Rakyat learnt the meaning of wakil rakyat. It means we are in charge and they are merely our wakil.

... ... which brought one letter writer Aneel David Kannabhiran to rail at Raja:

Hello chief, there's no frickin' way in hell DAP are going to link up with PAS - neiher is PKR going to be seen as such [they may have a quiet 'nudge-wink' understanding with PAS, but they're not going to be OPENLY SEEN as supporting the Islamic State stand].

Further, the Barisan Alternatif idea was utterly destroyed by the BN smear campaign in GE 99, you think they'll not be once bitten?

So will RPK then say "ok - you all don't want to join together, WE'LL BOYCOTT YOU!" - so now what? Is he going to call all his blog supporters [who, judging by the number of comments and responses to his blogs, are in the thousands] to abstain from voting and therefore let the BN voters return BN into power?

Or is he and the "civil society movements and NGOs" he quoted going to stand for elections in all constituencies in a 3-way fight against BN and Opp, thereby splitting the non-BN vote, and thereby inevitably returning BN to back power?

And this is an example of "returning power to the people"???
What the bloody hell does RPK think he's doing?

While he arranges for his supporters to "boycott the Opposition", I for one will be boycotting his blog.

The editor of course has the last say when he posted: Since this article was published, PAS, DAP AND PKR have already come to an agreement on Penang, the most likely state to fall to a 'Chinese' opposition, and it has further been agreed that if the opposition wins in Penang DAP will be the Chief Minister.

Kaytee’s comments on firstly, the editor’s notes: they are not entirely correct. Malaysiakini told us that only DAP and PKR agreed on the 9th January 2008 to have a united front, and in Penang only against the BN in the general election.

PKR is yet to finalise any agreement with PAS in Penang as the one it has concluded with DAP.

Therefore the editor’s notes are, to put it politely, supportive spin based on incomplete data, for RPK’s seemingly bizarre but substantially brilliant propaganda. Well, why I say it is brilliant is something I want to examine together with you.

But at this stage suffice to say the so-called opposition ‘agreement’ is limited between DAP and PKR and confined to Penang only, because we are further informed by Malaysiakini that DAP-PKR seat talks: Perak, Sarawak the remaining obstacles, with the article's title being self explanatory.

The major stumbling block to any successful seat allocation talks between PKR and DAP has been the agreement between Lim (either Senior or Junior) and PKR’s de facto leader, an agreement voiced frequently and publicly by Lim Jnr, that the DAP shall be allocated the Chinese-majority seats, while PKR contest in mixed racial composition seats. The latter unfortunately are usually BN stronghold seats.

While I have heard Lim Jnr declared this arrangement frequently I haven't yet heard Anwar Ibrahim denied it, which means it must be true. This is apart from both Lim Snr and Jnr's reputation as truthful speakers.

Tian Chua and the Chinese PKR (and perhaps even the Indian PKR members, whatever there may be left of them) think this arrangement stinks. They want a fair share of the Chinese-majority seats for a jolly fair chance. One would be reasonably safe to say that when Anwar agreed to the DAP on the formula that Lim Jnr has been stating openly, he (Anwar) must have forgotten to consult his PKR Chinese (and Indian) leaders.

Thus Tian Chua and the PKR Chinese leaders need to question their de facto leader for agreeing to the arrangement as if they don't matter or exist. Hmmm, the question this ‘arrangement’ between the DAP and Anwar Ibrahim raises can only be that Anwar has forgotten (or dismissed?) the Chinese members of his PKR.

Any coalition would benefit Anwar Ibrahim more than the DAP, who as an example, has to surrender to PKR one of its 20 seats it usually contested and originally wanted to contest in Penang in the coming election. It can’t form government with less than 20.

Of course this is not to say the DAP doesn’t benefit from a loose coalition because it’s always better to avoid 3-corner contests, as was successfully achieved in 1969.

But I reckon the DAP benefits least while PKR most from the arrangement. Inclusion of PAS in such a coalition, even if via PKR, is not good PR for DAP. Besides, throughout the world, it has been shown that an coalition comprising parties with such diverse political ideologies is only an unstable one at best.

Malaysiakini reported: One core issue in Perak appears to be the Chinese-based DAP’s insistence to contest in all three parliamentary and nine state seats in the Kinta Valley, much to the dismay of the multi-racial PKR.

It is understood that the PKR grassroots there had whispered to their party leadership that they were all prepared to go for three-cornered fights in the event DAP was unwilling to give up even a single seat in the Kinta Valley.

Well, perhaps this was what RPK had in mind when he wrote his conclusion in his article, to put some blame and pressure on the DAP?

So perhaps it has not been as bizarre as letter writer Aneel David Kannabhiran thought it to be. No, RPK wasn't advocating capitulation to the BN if the ‘opposition’ refuses to unite - the 'opposition' in this case probably meaning only the DAP because I would dare say the PKR will 'somehow' voice its willingness to 'unite', but obviously in an arrangement very much against the DAP’s interests.

Thus I imagine he could have been hinting at not voting for an 'uncooperative' DAP.

Yes, by attempting to read between RPK’s lines I reckon he was saying if the DAP refuses to play ball, the opposition voters, even DAP supporters, should abandon the DAP and instead vote for PKR if there is a 3-corner fight.

RPK had said: Malaysia-Today will soon launch a campaign called ONE OPPOSITION OR NO OPPOSITION. The civil society movements and NGOs will soon launch a PEOPLES' DECLARATION or DEKLARASI RAKYAT. If the ruling party accepts this Declaration we shall support them. Whomsoever accepts it we shall support them,

OK, may I just ask who is this movement? Malaysia-Today? Bersih? And who will decide the ‘Declaration’? Who is expected to accept the terms, or else?

Well, one very easy answer I can provide straightaway for readers is that RPK is an extremely intelligent man and a brilliant strategist and propagandist, and I mean it as a compliment. RPK never writes anything without a planned objective. If it appears bizarre and self defeating, I examine it even more carefully ;-)

And why did I say Anwar Ibrahim is the main beneficiary of the movement to deny the BN its usual two-thirds majority? Afterall, isn’t that figure a long time dream of Lim Kit Siang? Wouldn’t it be a crowning swan song for the (de jure) Opposition Leader?

So, why is kaytee saying the de facto leader of the PKR will be the main and probably ONLY beneficiary if the BN is denied its two-third majority?

To be continued ...

Talking with God the Chinese way

Lately there has been so much talk about God and his 99 other names ..... hmmm ..... I decided to pen my personal experience with a god (Chinese have many – aiyah why deny ourselves of alternatives) over at my other blog KTemoc Kongsamkok, titled Encounter with a God.

Another kaytee adventure ;-)

Internal Security Ministry intruding on Christian rights!

In my post Allah ® Copyright Reserve - a necessity? I question the Herald, the organ of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, for insisting on using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa section when referring to God .

While I support its right to publish Church news and articles in Bahasa, I was and still am of the opinion that it is unnecessary to employ the A-word when Tuhan would do just as well. The Herald’s claim that Sabahans and Sarawakians use the A-word because of its presence in the imported Indonesian al Kitab is not a plausible reason, apart from insulting East Malaysian Christians as if they can’t distinguish what the Bahasa word Tuhan means.

My expressed opinion has been controversial especially for a non-Muslim (would it be tautological to state I am non-Melayu too), where I deeply upset my dear blogger friend Lucia Lai of Mental Jog. As punishment for what she must have deemed as my loose cannon shot, she is refusing to communicate with me for 50 days, 10 more than what Moses had spent on Mount Sinai while waiting for the 10 Commandments (Exodus 24:18).

However, when I read the Malaysiakini news article that Christian children books have been seized by enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry in 3 States - in Johor Bahru, Senawang in Negeri Sembilan and Ipoh, Perak - I told myself UMNO’s ‘agama, bangsa dan negara’ fear campaign has gone too far and has now intruded into the rights of Christians.

Malaysiakini reveals that these books have been seized from three MPH bookstores, though it’s not known yet whether other book retailers have had similar raids. And the pathetic excuse has been that the Christian children’s books contain offensive caricatures of prophets.

What left me gobsmacked has been the fact that these books are in English, that's right, not in Bahasa.

Negeri Sembilan and Malacca department director Faizah Nor Sidek said her department acted on a complaint from Islamic authorities. She stated: “The illustrations of prophets in the Christian children’s books are said to offend the sensitivities of Muslims.”

Well, my dear, let me put a few reasons why your department’s action have gone too far:

(1) The books are in English and meant for Christians, not for Muslims. In fact it would be illegal and irreligious for Malaysian Muslims to open Christian text books.

(2) The A-word or several others copyright reserved for Malaysian Islam like 'Baitullah’ (House of God), ‘Solat’ (prayer) and ‘Kaabah’ (The Sacred House) were not used.

(3) The prophets are Christian prophets, way before Prophet Mohamad (pbuh) blessed the Islamic world with Allah’s message of Islam. Therefore kindly stay out of the teachings of Christianity, which predates Islam.

(4) If the Christians have a humorous, tolerant and more confident approach to religious piety, as seen in several movies like Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty that’s none of your bloody business (unless you're a Christian). Also see my post Is God humorous?

But of course, as we all know, the UMNO vs PAS holy-than-thou battles, and the seizure of the books is merely one of them, have nothing to do with religious piety but rather grubby politics and avarice for power and all the attendant trimmings.

I have just blogged on this in What's missing in Malaysian politics? where I stated:

“… the ‘agama, bangsa dan negara’ clarion call has been overused by the desperate, unscrupulous and ambitious to both provide, for example, 9.2 million Teflon-ing excuses as well as to marshal the faithful to the ethnic banner against the fabricated siege by the ‘nons’.”

“The usual candidate for the feared 'nons' would be 'Chinese communists' but now supplanted by 'Indian terrorists'. The doctrine is that the family that fears together sticks together.”

Just because the election is just around the corner doesn’t meant you (AAB's Internal Security Ministry) can merely add another candidate, namely the Christians, for the heartland to ‘fear’ so as to vote for UMNO as their Islamic warrior.

Don't you dare intrude into the Christian domain such as these children text books when it has not intruded into Islamic characteristics (like using the A-word).

What's missing in Malaysian politics?

When I read in Malaysiakini about Visit Malaysia Year - The 'Korean scandal' where it has been alleged that director of Tourism Malaysia (TM) Seoul Abdul Mutalib Awang and TM North Asian regional director Ramzi Abu Yazid had abused their powers of management to embezzle funds meant for promoting Malaysia as a holiday destination to South Koreans - and mind you, with the whistleblowers furnishing Malaysiakini with documentary evidence - I was fairly annoyed but then thought, yawnnnnn, what’s new.

Afterall this is Malaysia Boleh mah!

And of course, in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures a la Malaysia Boleh, no action would be taken.

But I was truly mad when I read that Ramzi was promoted, yes, promoted after the disgraceful revelation. Malaysiakini contacted TM headquarters and receeived confirmation that Ramzi had been promoted as Senior Deputy Director of the North/East Asian Promotion Division. Well, Chua Soi Lek, eat your … er … whatever out!

It's truly the height of ignorance or arrogance by the Minister for Tourism to countenance such a promotion. But wait, read on ...

The whistleblowers also alleged Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was aware of the irregularities but chose not to act on the alleged scandal.

They lamented: “We were shocked when staff from TM Seoul confirmed that Tengku Adnan and his family went for a ski trip with Mutalib’s family when the former visited South Korea a few weeks ago despite knowing about the serious allegations of corruption against Mutalib.”

Needless to say, both Tengku Adnan and his deputy Donald Lim could not be reached for comments. They all have Big Ears and Thick Skins but buggerall accountability. I am utterly disgusted with PM AAB for daring to pronounce his government as having Islamic values whern he condones such shocking nonsense by his minister.

Yes, ‘lament’ is all we helpless citizens can do as the public coffer is being allegedly pilfered.

In a nation of proper governance, take for example, in Australia, Peter Reith, once a powerful Federal Minister in the previous Coalition government and a much touted potential PM favoured by former PM John Howard (he was then the PM's right hand man and chief head kicker), resigned after reporters found out that his son used his minister's phone card for private purposes.

By Malaysian standard, it would have been so mild an infraction that even a prime minsterial zzzzzzzz would be far more noticeable.

Let me provide another case of propriety where corruption was not even involved – just mere words.

John Brogden is a politician from former PM John Howard's Liberal Party but at State level. He was former opposition leader in the Australian State of New South Wales and therefore a potential State Premier (Menteri Besar). While having a 'few' at a bar one evening, he got a wee ‘high’ and did the incredibly stupid thing by making a verbal 'pass' at a female journalist.

He’s not a bad looking bloke but in Australia, what he did was the height of imprudence for a politician.

The next day after he sobered up from the effects of his drinks he resigned straightaway. Of course by then, the Aussie press had a wonderful day. Brodgen tried committing suicide when he couldn't take the media attacks on him, but fortunately his family alerted the hospital; he's now OK and even forgiven by the Aussie press.

There have been many such cases of State and Federal Ministers resigning over the most minor infractions which would be deemed by Malaysians as insignificantly minor or buggerall important at all.

I would say the Party’s 'fear' of public backlash (no doubt agitated by the feral Aussie press) would be the driving force behind such resignations.

In Malaysia, I would say the Party’s leadership 'fear' of internal challenges (agitated by feral avarice and nepotism) would be the manipulating force behind such resignations.

But what it does show is that the greatest driving force actually is the public opinion, which explains why the ‘agama, bangsa dan negara’ clarion call has been overused by the desperate, unscrupulous and ambitious to both provide, for example, 9.2 million Teflon-ing excuses as well as to marshal the faithful to the ethnic banner against the fabricated siege by the ‘nons’.

The usual candidate for the feared 'nons' would be 'Chinese communists', then 'Chinese chauvinists', but now supplanted by 'Indian terrorists'. The UMNO doctrine is that the 'family' that fears together sticks together.

We also know that the force to keep the public informed would be the press, a free press, which alas, other than for Malaysiakini, we sorely lack. Once the Star was the most reliable free press in Malaysia but thanks to the MCA, we are left only with Malaysiakini. I only pray (even as an aethist) that Malaysiakini will continue to be free from fear and favour and not be hijacked.

A free press and a well-informed public would be a good start to recover the democracy we once enjoyed, as we can no longer rely on the lost Triad.

Related:
KTemoc's No 1 priority - Fight crime!

Penang the Political Pearl

From yesterday’s news in Malaysiakini we read of Opposition plans one-on-ones for Penang.

This is reminiscent of 1969. Then the DAP, Gerakan, PPP and even PAS had a pact to (1) avoid three-corner fights in any electoral seats and (2) encourage their supporters to vote for the political party opposing the Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Perikatan (Alliance Party, the forerunner of the Barisan Nasional).

There was no fancy name like Barisan Alternatif, etc. The pact was openly publicised and caught the imagination of Malaysians who were tired of the inefficiency of the government. The Chinese and Indians were pissed off with what they saw as racial discrimination, not realising the future would be even worse. I was told that a significant number of Malays deserted UMNO for PAS in disgust at UMNOputra-ism.

In the election Dr Mahathir, then a young turk, lost his parliamentary seat in (I believe) Kota Selatan in Kedah, whereafter he gave Tunku some rather caustic tongue lashing which led to his expulsion from UMNO. He was brought back by Tun Razak after the 2nd PM ousted Tunku in a quiet coup d’etat.

The most exciting party at that time was Gerakan, headed (not ‘helmed’, hahaha) by a group of intellectuals and high profile politicians, giants like:

... Professor Syed Hussain Alatas
... the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon, a former leader of the Labour Party who was respected even by UMNO as Malaysia’s Mr Opposition
... Dr. J.B.A. Peter
... internationally renowned academician Professor Wang Gungwu
... lawyer V. Veerapan, also another former leader of the Labour Party, and
... Dr Lim Chong Eu, former MCA President who, it was said, was manoeuvred by Tunku out of the MCA and Perikatan because the PM wanted a more compliant MCA leader whom he found in Tan Siew Sin. Dr Lim eventually took Gerakan into the BN in 1972 at the urging of Tun Razak.

If not for May 13, this multiracial party would most likely have become the ruling party by the late ‘70s or early ‘80s. But see how the party has since metamorphosed into its current sycophant status as UMNO’s sweetheart (or bum boy). Hmmm, a case of past midnight and Penang’s Cinderella turning back into a ........ (I better not say it lest I be accused of insulting the ladies of the night).

Like Gerakan, PAS was persuaded to return to its birth nest, UMNO-BN, before it left for a second time.

And do I need to describe the decline, decline and decline of the party of the late D.R Seenivasegam, a man respectfully addressed as the King of Ipoh? Read my previous posts PPP = Pathetic Pitiful Party and The total humiliation of PPP - a lesson for BN parties to understand why the late D.R Seenivasegam has lately been rolling over in his grave.

Only DAP remains of the original group of 1969 opposition parties which had virtually obliterated the MCA and shook UMNO to its core, and led to what has lately been described by a historian as a top-UMNO deliberately instigated May 13 riot.

Lim Kit Siang was elected in 1969 but will postal voters of a phantom army and the suspicious gerryman..... re-aligned electoral boundaries of the Ipoh Timor consitituency see his political demise?

DAP hopes its current pact with PKR will set it on a déjà vu course for victory, but it’s unlikely that it will grab power in Penang as Dr Lim Chong Eu's opposition party did in 1969.

For a start, PKR is not the 1969-Gerakan which had already built a solid base in Penang through Dr Lim Chong Eu’s United Democratic Party and the (Dr Tan and V Veerapan's) old Labour Party.

PKR is basically a group of ex but eternally hopeful UMNO apparatchiks. This is not to say there aren’t sincere non-ex-UMNO people in PKR but they belong to the ‘minority’ in the party.

I reckon that, other than some young people, most Penangites especially the Chinese and Indians will not vote for PKR. The DAP may gain a few parliamentary seats at the expense of the MCA and even Gerakan.

However, the Penangites’ formula of “sending DAP to KL make noise while keeping the BN in the State for development” may yet see a BN ruled Island.

Thus the other question is: will Raja Bodek go for federal parliament (very dangerous given the Penangites’ formula) or does he see safety in a State seat?

Related:
(1) Koh TK willing captive of UMNO?
(2) Penangites want to trade off Koh Tsu Koon!
(3) Giving away Penang's family jewels

Open rebellion in MCA?

Continuing on my yesterday’s post Has Ong KT 'Mahathir-ised' Dr Ling? the Ling faction, now to be distinguished from the Ong KT faction, has openly and insubordinately defied the MCA President's pronouncement of the tangkap basah scandal of Chua Soi Lek as not a political plot.

Would this be an example of MCA's born-again democratic practice or a case of 'what to do, survival mah!'?

In typical Chinese poetic sarcasm, young Ling Junior shot back at Ong KT: "If lightning strikes, certainly it is from the sky. If this is not a political plot, then tell me what it is?”

Malaysiakini reported in Ling Jr takes on MCA boss in war of words that:

The younger Ling had earlier attributed Chua’s downfall in the wake of a sex scandal to a 'political plot'.

Ka Ting, in rejecting Hee Leong’s call for an internal investigation into those behind recording and revealing sex scandal, had yesterday asked for any concrete proof to be submitted to the police.

Aiyah Ka Ting, you KNN one, if someone has ‘concrete proof’, would there be any need for an investigation?

He said that he too was ‘curious’ to know whether any top MCA leader was behind the controversy, but that the probe should be left to the police.

Bullsh*t, but anyway the detective books always tell us to look at ‘motive’. Yes, WHO would have THE MOTIVE to neutralise if not destroy an ambitious Chua Soi Lek? Who was sh*t scared of a far more competent, capable and confident trilingual CSL?

But as the news shockingly revealed, when a mere Youth Deputy Chief openly thumbed his nose at the MCA President, it sure as hell doesn’t do much for Ong KT’s standing in the party – aiyah Ka Ting, where got face now?

Hee Leong’s open war of words with Ka Ting must have been calculated to pile the pressure on the MCA President and put him on the backfoot; Ong's problem has been compounded by the fact that the Liong Sik loyalists are considerable in numbers. Perhaps this could have been the reason why Ong KT backed down from his earlier intention to head MCA Johor and instead allowed a Chua henchman to take over - look Malaysiakini, I don’t have to use the word ‘helm’ ;-)

The Johor State is the powerhouse of the MCA and party strategists believe that the man who rules Johor MCA is the man who rules MCA. Previously that was CSL - ah, the picture now becomes even more clear.

Well, what with the DAP and PKR finally agreeing on seats allocation in Penang, but with poor DAP making sacrificial concessions to a happy Tian Chua, the MCA may be in for a torrid general election a la 1969 when it was almost obliterated.

Mind you, the Tengku Abdul Rahman government and the Election Commission then were of a far superior standard of integrity, in fact light years ahead.

But never mind, back to the MCA - will CSL do a Bill Clinton ;-) (no pun intended) by becoming the MCA comeback kid?

As Otto Von Bismarck said: "Politics is the art of the possible."

Has Ong KT 'Mahathir-ised' Dr Ling?

Now this one is interesting. Yesterday Malaysiakini published Sex tape: Ling Jr defends Chua.

It would seem that there might have been a falling out between Ong Ka Ting and Dr Ling Liong Sik, his predecessor who anointed him (Ong KT) as Taikoh of MCA.

Of course Dr Ling didn’t say a word about the Chua Soi Lek’s debacle, but his son Hee Leong came out to defend the former Health Minister.

Hee Leong who is also the MCA deputy Youth Chief said: “People don’t invade other people’s private lives for nothing. It’s not fun and there is nothing to gain. (Politicians) have a basic right to privacy like everyone else.”

“Otherwise, we should build special glass toilets with no doors for politicians (so that everyone can see them inside).”

Malaysiakini columnist Josh Hong wrote in Sexual escapades in moron state that Chua Soi Lek had been perceived as an intra party ‘threat’ to Ong Ka Ting and consequentially the latter's alleged dynastic designs. He described Chua as follows:

Being a capable minister with a strong power base in Johor, Chua was also popularly seen as much more charismatic than Ong Ka Ting, the MCA president. Most strikingly, Chua’s command of Bahasa Malaysia and English is impeccable, and he speaks fluent Mandarin despite coming from an English-speaking background. Quite clearly, Chua’s linguistic talents and confidence in meeting the press and the public had all made Ong extremely uneasy and even feel threatened.

Chua’s dedication to the Ministry of Health is evident in his visits to most of the hospitals across the country, and his ability to communicate with hospital staff and civil servants in Bahasa was a tremendous help. He can be critical sometimes, as he happened to be the only cabinet minister who said the government should look into the root causes behind the meteoric rise of Hindraf. In other words, suppression and smearing would be futile to solving the problems facing the Indian community.

Using personal issues to attack political rivals has long been a Malaysian culture, laying bare the serious incompetence of public figures in engaging in rational debate. Hence, when the opponent is hard to beat, the next thing to do is to resort to dirty tricks: second wife, womanizing, possession of porn materials, homosexuality, unnatural sex – you name it. Most hypocritically, many do so in the name of upholding public moral standards, although they stoop so low simply because of bitter jealousy and power hunger.

Hee Leong added to that, shooting across the bow of Ong KT, by stating:

“(Any contest means) giving the delegates a choice, that should be the way. If (people) can’t accept a challenge, they should just get out of the party - get out of the party!”

“We are a transparent party with healthy political culture. We must get to the bottom of this because this is not the president’s or secretary-general’s (Ka Ting’s elder brother, Ka Chuan) party. I was born and brought up in this party too.”

“We have to get the main culprit - not the machai (underlings). There can be many (sacrificial) lambs, but we want the shepherd.”

He was referring to the alleged mastermind of a probable plot behind the tangkap basah* of Chua Soi Lek.

* in flagrante delicto (caught red handed in a sexual indiscretion)

Like Ong Ka Ting, Chua Soi Lek has been part of Dr Ling’s Team ‘A’, yet ........

Political pundits claimed that Ling Junior was supposed to be nominated by the MCA for the Labis parliamentary constituency, a seat held by his father before the former MCA Presidnet passed it to Chua.

Now, we all know that Ong KT's brother, Ka Chuan, was knocked out by the DAP in the 2004 general election.

And it’s also well known that Ong KT has been ‘organizing’ the political situation for the entry of his brother Ka Chuan into parliament after the coming election.

That Ong KT has selfishly assumed a second role as the Health Minister following Chua’s exit, instead of nominating a current MCA deputy minister or senior MCA MP to fill that post, strengthened the suspicion he’s holding the ministerial position ‘in trust’ for his Ah Hniah (abang, elder brother).

The perception that Chua, a Ling henchman, had been done by in an alleged sinister honeypot plot must have worry Ling Junior (and perhaps even Senior?).

Has Ong KT done an ‘AAB’ in ‘Mahathir-ising’ his mentor, Dr Ling?

Will Hee Leong be treated in a humiliating manner by the MCA as Dr Mahathir’s son had been by the UMNO hierarchy?

In Malaysian politics, there is no loyalty, no friendship, no sentiment. There is neither friend nor enemy, but only interest.

Dr Mahathir experienced it; perhaps Dr Ling may too.

Aiyoyo Anwar Ibrahim

Hell hath no fury like a … (previous) friend scorned!

Nallakarupan, once close-buddy and tennis partner of Anwar Ibrahim has shot the latter down by asking the de facto chief of PKR what he (Anwar) had actually done for the Indians when he was deputy premier and finance minister?

I don’t suppose dear Anwar would quip with “Aiyoyo, Nalla, I played tennis with you one.”

Anwar has been campaigning in the north and calling on those Indians who turned up at his roadshows to abandon the BN and vote instead for PKR. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) his roadshows were not all that popular with the Chinese.

Malaysiakini reported that Nalla spat out: “I have personal experience and knowledge on how he treats the Indian community. Based on my close association with him for more than 30 years, I know very well that he is lying to the Indian community now, just to gain votes.”

“I hope he will put an immediate stop to his political games in trying to cheat the Indian community.”

“I hope they will realise that Anwar who did nothing for them when he could have done something for them is not going to do anything now.”

Hmmm, maybe that could explain why the Chinese didn’t turn up at his campaigning, as had the Indians.

Even Humpty Dumpty came out to sneer at Anwar as: “He is lovely because the general election is just around the corner. He seems to be putting up a very good show and smiling a lot these days when he sees the Indians.”

“I don’t know when he started to develop such good habits whereas his old habits were totally different when he was deputy prime minister and finance minister.”

“When he was on top, he never looked at the Indians, let alone resolve their problems.”

But I heard Anwar Ibrahim genuinely loves Hindi movies and Hindi songs.

Allah ® Copyright Reserve - a necessity?

I am a bit sick of the debate still going on about the use of the A-word to refer to the Christian God in articles and letters over at Malaysiakini. The pointless debate has been and is distracting our attention from far more important issues like corruption, cronyism and crimes.

Let kaytee give his personal opinion and in the process annoy or upset both sides – it’ only fair ;-)

As I had blogged in What in God's name ... UMNO is striving to keep one step ahead of PAS in their holier-than-thou battles. It’s a fierce combative struggle for the hearts, minds, souls and most important of all, the votes of the faithful because it ensures political power and the associated trimmings.

I also mentioned in that previous posting, that politicial joustling has been the one of the principal reasons why Malaysia has jumped the divide from Tengku Abdul Rahman’s secular Malaya/Malaysia across to what UMNO now claims it to be, Islamic Malaysia.

Both parties have been striving hard to recruit Allah swt over to their banner. Yes, it’s all for votes that Allah swt has been ® by the UMNO-led government.

Therefore the reality is that the UMNO-led government will never budge on its exclusion of non-Muslims from using the A-word. Any ‘slow or sweet talk’, logic or reminders of global Christian use of the A-word to refer to God won’t work.

When UMNO ministers talked about the use of the A-word ‘confusing the people’, they had two issues in mind, both structured to prevent PAS from exploiting (1) any perceived UMNO ‘leniency’ in permitting the use of the A-word, especially by Christians, and (2) the (perception of) feared incursion by the Christian Church into Malaysia’s Islamic parish.

The second issue is not solely about adverse political perception but a genuine wariness regarding the proselytizing design of the Church. Christianity like Islam is a missionary religion hence it has a duty not only to God but to the Church to convert as many into its fold as possible.

The unfaltering belief of the Muslim heartland in UMNO’s role as the guardian of Islam is vital to the political party’s very survival, a status that PAS has been endeavoring to erode so as to position itself as the 'genuine’ religious guardian.

Thus UMNO will not condone any possibility, no matter how slight, of PAS pointing an accusing finger at it failing to protect Malaysian Muslims from the encroaching doctrine of the Christians or other non-Muslims.

Remember the incident when the FT Gerakan criticized the Mufti of Perak and proposed to petition the Sultan of Perak to get rid of that seditious bloke? Well, didn’t PAS immediately jump on Gerakan as interfering in Islamic affairs?

It was an opportunity for PAS to put UMNO on the defensive, that of having political allies who had been ‘disrespectful’ to Islam [as if the Perak Mufti has been/could be a shining paragon of Islam].

And why do you think Gerakan swallowed humble pie and apologized? Did you imagine for one instant that it was afraid of PAS? ‘Twas just a case of Taikoh telling the Gerakan to kill the controversy off mucho pronto by making the unnecessary but politically expedient apology.

Likewise with the cases of Lina Joy, etc!

Therefore I believe the Catholic newspaper Herald has been ‘relatively’ fortunate to have its permit renewed. I stress ‘relatively’ fortunate because the stark reality is we are not living in an ideal world.

We aren’t talking about right or wrong here. Before UMNO’s interests, all must and will be swept aside. If you don’t believe me, ask the MCA. As Mao said, power comes from the barrel of the gun, and UMNO has the guns!

Now, over to the motive of the Herald!

As I had also blogged in What in God's name ... I must ask the publishers and editors of the Herald why they had to use the ‘Allah’ word when an alternative and more commonly used word ‘Tuhan’ exists?

Yes, yes, we can go into semantics and argue that Allah is used by Christian Arabs ... yadda yadda yadda ... but my point is why use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God when we can easily anticipate the claim staking of the Almighty's name?

Yes, WTF does the Herald want to use the A-word?

As I said, it's not as if there is no other word to refer to God, when in fact an adequate and more commonly used word, namely Tuhan, exist. I hailed from a Methodist school so I can safely say that we didn’t refer to Allah swt as God.

No doubt the Church’s defenders will bring in the use of the A-word by Arab Christians, but are we Arab Christians, and have we historically referred to God as Allah swt?

No doubt the Christians supporters will refer to the Iban Bible’s use of a form of A-word, but is the Iban Bible a staple reference for Malaysians Christians in general? The use of the Iban Bible is peculiar and limited to one particular community, such that the PM has allowed its continued reference to the A-word.

And I have no doubt that same permission will apply to the Sikh religion. In fact the Sikh God is Vāhigurū, and reference to Allah is contained in the teaching by Sri Guru Granth Sahib as follows:

"I observe neither Hindu fasting nor the ritual of the Muslim Ramadan month; Him I serve who at the last shall save. The Lord of universe of the Hindus, Gosain and Allah to me are one; From Hindus and Muslims have I broken free. I perform neither Kaaba pilgrimage nor at bathing spots worship; One sole Lord I serve, and no other. I perform neither the Hindu worship nor the Muslim prayer; To the Sole Formless Lord in my heart I bow. We neither are Hindus nor Muslims; Our body and life belong to the One Supreme Being who alone is both Ram and Allah for us."

Its use is limited and qualified. Quite frankly the Sikhs can go ahead and publish the Allah word in Punjabi and the UMNO-government couldn't care less.

But not so in Bahasa, where the readership could embrace the Malays and worst of all, its use reaching the eyes of the PAS political propagandists.

In both Malaysia's Rukun Negara and Indonesia's Panca Sila, God is referred to as Tuhan. Of course we can play silly politics and clever semantics by pointing out the use of Allah in some State anthems.

Indeed I question the sincerity of the Herald publishers and editors in insisting on using a word that is not regularly used by Malaysian Christians. If there is no sinister proselytising intent, then why persist obdurately in wanting to use it?

We may not like what UMNO is doing with its Islamist agenda, but that doesn’t mean we ourselves cannot be fair (standing above the grubby gutter religious politics of UMNO and PAS) and question the true intent and sincerity of the Herald. We shouldn't blindly take the side of the Herald just to spite or merely oppose UMNO (or the Muslims).

Of course I'll continue to support the Herald's right to publish its Bahasa section - that's quite different from the issue of the A-word.

But I definitely do not support the Herald’s whining, wailing and whinging about its right to use the A-word to refer to the Christian God. I am not interested in supporting its selfish agenda. I want to concentrate on publicising the BN’s corruption, cronyism and crimes rather than the Church's recruiting drive, by stealth.

Sh*t, will my Christian friends still talk to me after this? Wait, let me put on my flak jacket ;-)

Cooking oil - failure of government

Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny

- Shakespeare, Hamlet

Yes, I am back and ready to rock and roll ;-)

Thanks to all for their kind wishes and emails - sorry I won’t be able to reply each of you individually but everyone has my grateful thanks for your kind wishes and, even when I was inactive for the last two weeks, your kind visits to my blog. I was held incommunicado alas, sob, due to a very eventful Christmas-New Year break ;-)

And what do I read when I got back to ‘civilization’?

… the various news reports including those from Malaysiakini about MCA’s Chua Soi Lek and his now-not-so-private private life.

Maybe he took Shakespeare’s advice and told himself, WTF, even if I were as pure as snow (not that there is any snow in Malaysia or that snow is even pure) I would be ‘whispered’ to ruins, so …

Do I care about his private life or that he has at least the basic decency to resign? Not in the least, because there are far more important issues to worry about.

An example of what I have been more worried about has been the perennial and disgraceful issue of essential goods not being readily available for the public.

Malaysiakini reported in its news article Cooking oil on ration after panic-buying that “supermarket shelves were stripped of cooking oil in several states, with retailers not able to replenish supplies fast enough.”

So our dear government did its usual problem solving trick – Malaysiakini said “it has slapped restrictions on cooking oil purchases after panic-buying triggered by rumours of price hikes caused severe shortages ...”

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shafie Apdal said that come the new week, customers will only be permitted to buy a maximum of 5 kg of cooking oil at any one time.

Ya, define what does he mean by 'at any one time'? And as a member of the public, why should I be subordinated to such restrictions because of administrative incompetence.

If it’s not cooking oil, it’ll be eggs, chicken, beef, rice, sugar, gas, you name it, that item would have been placed at one stage or other on the controlled list. Previously even the price of a kopi-o wasn’t spared the incompetent but heavy-handed hands of the administration.

The Minister unashamedly admitted: "This is not the first time we are conducting a rationing exercise for controlled items. We did the same when there was a similar crisis involving sugar."

Instead of going the full hog in his confession and admit that poor administration has been the root cause of all these evils, he blamed smuggling. And his solution was to boost the production of cooking oil by 10%.

But this is a mere tactical solution, without addressing the alleged cause, that of 'smuggling'. What is there to prevent that extra 10% production of oil from being smuggled too?

Items become scarce usually because of the triad of evils in the first place, namely control, cronyism and corruption. And behind every smuggling action, we may reasonably believe there's something dodgy on the other side.

In recent times, each year without fail, we see some essential items running out especially when festive seasons approach. There was a time when Malaysia had plenty of everything and those who indulged in ‘panic buying’ would end up regretting the unjustified misuse of their scarce money.

Oh, by the way, just in case we forget, Malaysia is a leading producer of palm oil yet we can't enable our public to buy as much oil as their hearts desire.

If the government can’t even guarantee the reasonable supply of basic essential food stuff, how in the world can it lead us into the 21st Century globalised world, or even dream of participating meaningfully in space science and technology.

But even worse, we see that it will do nothing to attend to control, cronyism and corruption?

Re-name Dataran Merdeka

Malaysiakini reported that the Abolish the ISA Movement (GMI) has postponed its planned ISA vigil at Dataran Merdeka.

GMI had planned the vigil to protest the government’s detention without trial of Malaysian citizens under the Internal Security Act. This has been due to the Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman issuing a stern warning to GMI and the public to stay away from Dataran Merdeka because he wouldn't issue any permit for the event.

We know that in recent months the police had dispersed protestors who participated in assemblies, forcefully and even with the use of water cannons and tear gas. The men in blue had also arrested many taking part in these rallies.

It seems that in recent times, the only opposition rally that emerged reasonably unscathed (except for a contained fracas which didn’t affect the main body) had been Bersih which marched all the way to the Palace to hand over a petition to the King, with the police handling the protestors with reasonable restraint. There was even an uninterrupted press conference with Bersih leaders after the petition was handed over.

By stark contrast, the police suppression of the Hindraf rally, even though it was just marching to the embassy (or rather High Commission) of a foreign country, was fiercely suppressed.

Put a question mark against those different treatments for the two rallies by police, or more correctly, by their political master(s).

GMI president Syed Ibrahim stressed that the planned but now postponed event, like previous GMI events, would have been entirely peaceful, posing no threat to public order and national security.

He scoffed at the police refusal to issue the permit, stating: “It has rather been the actions and deliberate provocation by the police which have caused (peaceful) gatherings to end in chaos.”

But sometimes I feel for the police because, as I mentioned earlier, it’s their political master(s) who set the policy, tone and probably the instructions for their over-the-top SS-type heavy-handed actions.

Look - our dear wonderful PM AAB, who is also the offending Internal Security Minister, has deliberately shut out a significant segment of the Malaysian public by his refusal to take heed of what protestors in peaceful rallies have been unhappy and complaining about, even though this Bapak Islam Hadhari has claimed he possesses Big Ears to listen to our dissatisfaction.

Instead he has buried his head in sycophantic sand while, with rapt attention, poured over a petition of support handed over by a mushroomed-overnight Damai, which claimed to represent nearly 400 NGOs and 1.5 million people.

And those up-to-now-unheard-of-and-unnamed but amazing NGOs, all 395 of them, must have all this while been representing the mute, comatose and very dead, because until post Hindraf we haven’t heard a single peep, squeak or sokong from them. As for the 1.5 million people ... well ...

Dataran Merdeka means ‘Independence (or Freedom) Place’, but it has become a blasphemy that this public Square continues to have a name with the word ‘Merdeka’. Until the Malaysian people, of whatever creed, political persuasion or religious beliefs, can enter and assemble peacefully there, the place should be re-named.

Since we are for all intents and purposes living in a police state, let’s call it Dataran ‘Sembilan Belas Lapan Puluh Empat’ (1984) after the Orwellian model, until we may enjoy true democracy once again.

It's clear that Dataran 1984 is off limits to those who believe in democracy!

What in God's name ...

Virtually everyone knows that UMNO and PAS are perpetually locked in holier-than-thou battles, a combative struggle for the hearts, minds, souls and most important of all, the votes of the faithful.

That had been the one of the principal reasons why Malaysia has jumped the divide from Tengku Abdul Rahman’s secular Malaya/Malaysia across to what it is now, an Islamic Malaysia with the national ideology of Islam Hadhari (plus ‘somnambulant’ governance).

The struggle for Allah and/or* God is never ending.

* use ’and’ if you believe your Almighty is different from the others

Therefore it was hardly surprising when we learnt from Malaysiakini that Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum declared that only Muslims can use 'Allah' to refer to their Almighty.

He claimed the word ‘Allah’ can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion, because it’s an Arabic word and therefore by default a Muslim word – ‘copyright reserve’ so to speak!

He said that its use by other religions will confuse people. But he didn’t say which people?

For example, kaytee is not in the least confused.

The organ of the Catholic Church in Malaysia, Herald, is published in four languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil - and has a circulation of only 12,000, for Al...God's sake.

Because the Herald had used the ‘Allah’ word in referring to God in its Bahasa Malaysia section, it has been facing problems renewing its publishing permit.

The publishing permit known locally as the PPPA is a government tool to punish newspapers who haven’t or won’t toe the line. I've heard of one blogger who actually supports the PPPA - can you imagine that?

OK, so the ministry has instructed the publisher of the Herald to remove the entire Bahasa Malaysia section or the publishing permit will not be renewed when it expires in two weeks.

Malaysians have been educated in Bahasa Malaysia for eons, and the minister wants that BM section of the Herald excluded. How in the world will the BM-educated Catholics read the Church’s publication then? Why not just instruct the publisher not to use the exclusive word again instead of such a heavy handed punishment?

Indeed, when Johari was asked why the Herald has been being told to remove its Bahasa Malaysia section - rather than not to use the word ‘Allah’ – he couldn’t comment, saying he wasn’t sure. Hardly surprising – the entire cabinet doesn’t know sh*t.

Johari actually confessed: “I’m not sure about it, I have to check again.”

And who do you think he’s going to check with? His boss, the Swami of Somnambulation, or his subordinates, the Swarm of Sciolism?

All Johari could mutter was that, as far as he knows (he 'knows'? hahaha) the Herald had naughtily used the word ‘Allah’, and sure as hell (excuse the blasphemy) he won’t allow that.

Look, kaytee wants to be fair so I must ask the publishers and editors of the Herald why they had to use the ‘Allah’ word when an alternative and more commonly used word ‘Tuhan’ exists?

Yes, yes, we can go into semantics and argue that Allah is used by Christian Arabs ... yadda yadda yadda ... but my point is why use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God when we can easily anticipate the claim staking of the Almighty's name?

Some religious names are not unlike protest rallies – some people think they have a monopolistic propriety right to them (names as well as protest rallies).

Then Johari regaled us with his sad knowledge. He said that other publications, such as Buddhist magazines, do not use the word ‘Allah’ when referring to God.

Minister, puhleeeze lah, it would be better for you not to say anything and let people think you are ignorant rather than open your mouth and let them know it!

Buddhists don’t have a ‘God’ which has been why they don’t need to refer to monikers like Allah, God, Tuhan, Krishnan, Siva, Brahman, Thean Kong, Zeus, Manitou, Odin, Jupiter, etc.

But one would have imagine that it wouldn’t matter by what name the Almighty is called, because what is more important should be the piety of the believers.

For example, Minister Johari, have you shown goodwill towards your fellow men? Have you been charitable? That sort of stuff would be what the Almighty is interested in.

In closing I offer you my little piece on Magic of the 100th name of God:

Once
I had a hundred names
with only 99 known.
Trust Isis and her wiles,
yes, a woman
and a lovely one too,
to pry the 100th out of me.
Devious!

Amazed!
I now have a new one but
minus an 'L' as if that
would mean someone else,
like Odin, Manitou, Zeus,
rather than ole me, you
know who, don't you?
Moi

Hey
I call out to them, they
in the red and blue corners.
The names' the same, it's all mine
of course, whose did you think?
Butt out, sneered one;
Yes, the other concurred;
Scat!

Huh?
But they're all mine, those
names you're fighting over.
So what, did you patent them
like mapped gerome of langsat
and petai for exclusive use?
No? Then, buzz off!
Goodbye

But
Why fight over my names
when I am the same Bloke
for all of you guys and gals?
Hellooooo, didn't we say
to butt out of our turf wars,
on exclusive use of THE name.
Understand?

Isis!
Only she knew my 100th name
that bestows the most powerful
magic on those who know.
She was privy to my secret (100th)
name called Compassion, sometimes
known as, would you believe,
Love!

Also do read my blogging mate Lucia Lai's post herald, allah and the use of BM.