UMNO Omertà code to be broken in Permatang Pauh?

(4) Until the Permatang Pauh by-election takes place on 26 August I’ll share with you one or more Penang Hokkien words, both for my personal improvement as well as to be prepared in case Arif Shah and Anwar have a kongsamkok debate in Penang Hokkien ;-)

These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.

Today I want to introduce two Penang Hokkien words with almost identical meaning but which in reality stand miles apart in Penang (Chinese) society’s eyes. The two words are ‘shiok’ and ‘song’.

For a full explanation of their similarities and differences please read my post Lu Bay Song Wah Shiok Ee Aar? one year ago at my other blog ktemoc kongsamkok

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So the poo in Permatang Pauh is not only being flung around but it’s getting hotter too – yes, hot steamy poo!

Malaysiakini tells us that Anwar warned 'Najib, remember Port Dickson?'

Apparently he was pissed off with whatever Najib has been saying of him, or could it be the massive multi screening in Permatang Pauh of Saiful Bukhari taking the oath that he (Saiful) was sodomized by Anwar, …

… or has it been Najib’s sarcastic comment in the Star Online news article Not voters’ duty to save PKR candidate, says Najib that it wasn’t the duty of Permatang Pauh voters to ‘save’ Anwar from the sodomy charge.

Najib had said that the sodomy allegation was strictly a private matter yet Anwar was asking voters to save him. The DPM advised voters:

“Your duty is to elect someone to represent and work for you, not to save Anwar.”

Then he added the insulting part: “He chose Saiful, a person whom some would call jambu. We did not interview or hire Saiful, so where is the conspiracy?”

Of course the word ‘jambu’ (cherubic looking) had been a jab at Anwar who has been said to surround himself (perhaps only coincidentally?) with ‘jambu’ looking aides.

Maybe the ‘jambu’ bit had been the last straw for Anwar who now threatened to ‘tell all’ about Najib’s whatever in Port Dickson.

One of the most disappointing things for me as a non-UMNO person has been the reluctance of any of the different camps (current and former UMNO members) to ‘tell all’. I wish they would ;-)

But we know that there is a code within UMNO and former UMNO circles that the one who breaks the silence will have his/her 'bones broken'. It’s probably the UMNO code of Omertà!

That's why, up to now, we haven't heard of any corruption or scandalous issues or involvement of significant magnitude by any of the hostile parties, because no one dares break the silence - this, despite 6 boxes of evidence pertaining to UMNO corruption shuttling between Ezam and Anwar ;-) and the extreme animosities between camps.

I guess everyone's too scared as any revelation would not only invite retaliatory 'tell all' but possibly ominous actions.

Perhaps that could explain why RPK has been the person assigned to do all the dirty work, so that no one could accuse someone of breaking the Omertà code.

Malaysiakini journalist Athi Veeraggan said that Anwar’s threatening outburst reflected on the telling toll of the Permatang Pauh campaign on the de facto leader of the PKR.

Anwar warned Najib: "Enough is enough. Stop the scornful lies on me. Otherwise, I will expose Port Dickson. Najib will run if I were to narrate its tales."

Malaysiakini then reported:

His words brought the 3,000-strong crowd to its feet, sparking shouts of ‘bongkar sekarang’ (expose it now), but the slim and bespectacled de facto leader of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance Anwar held off, declining to give further details.

Yes, Athi Veeraggan has been correct – Anwar must be feeling humongously stressed because he no longer teased the crowd with man man lai.

Besides, there's the code of Omertà.

Pollie Poo in Permatang Pauh

(3) Until the Permatang Pauh by-election takes place on 26 August I’ll share with you one or more Penang Hokkien words, both for my personal improvement as well as to be prepared in case Arif Shah and Anwar have a kongsamkok debate in Penang Hokkien ;-)

These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.

Nor t’au chua = literally ‘double headed snake’ = a treacherous person.

Cheah nooi pnooi = literally ‘eat soft rice’ = pimp or pimping.

Boe larm p’ah (sometimes pronounced as 'boe larn p'ah) = literally [sorry, censored, as sweeties and children may be around] but a former Penang political leader was thus described. ;-)

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Permatang Pauh, as sweetie Joceline Tan of Star Online translated it, is the plain of mangoes.

But I think ‘permatang’ means the rising grounds between rice fields. Whatever, where rice is concerned, farmers need fertilizer. Here’s some, as headlined by Malaysiakini:

PM: Don't politicise DNA bill, where Malaysiakini reported PM AAB urging ‘… all parties not to politicise the DNA Bill 2008 which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.’

He dismissed the accusation that the bill was submitted with an ulterior motive, namely to fix the de facto PKR leader who’s facing a sodomy charge.

AAB said that the DNA Bill has been planned by the government for a long time, and it was just a coincidence that Anwar Ibrahim’s case requires DNA sampling – wakakaka.

Meanwhile, in Malaysiakini’s 'I voiced it, but I don't support it' Gerakan Party’s Wanita chief Tan Lian Hoe denied that she had urged her party to leave the BN coalition because of Umno’s racial politics.

A day after she was reported by the media for making that ‘daring’ call, she explained that she was merely voicing out the concerns of the grassroots but did not support the call made by the Perak Gerakan delegates during a conference on Sunday – wakakaka.

OK, now a word from a leader of the party that promotes political reforms, known in Malay as reformasi, as well as ketuanan rakyat or supremacy of the people (‘s voice).

Bloke told us in Malaysiakini that If Anwar wins, 13 Sabah MPs will cross over.

Well done, Jeffrey Kittingan – but is it reformasi or deformasi? Ketuanan rakyat? wakakaka.

And Professor Bridget Welsh writing for Malaysiakini asked Who can PAS trust?

In discussing PAS’ dilemma with regards to Anwar Ibrahim, she said the Islamic party’s leaders and members have been regularly asking themselves whether they should trust Anwar to lead, considering his (Anwar’s) leadership style, record in government, character and Islamic credentials.

Well ... there's always kaytee - wakakaka.

Then the Star Online reported that Anwar responded to Ezam’s accusation that he, as former DPM, had practised ‘cronyism’, by challenging Ezam to Name my ‘cronies’.

I heard from an unreliable source ;-) that Dr M was attempting to ring Ezam to suggest using his (Dr M's) 1998 list where the former PM exposed Anwar’s relatives and close colleagues who had benefited from the former DPM’s largesse. wakakaka.

We are informed by Wikipedia that “…The Youth wing of UMNO, headed by Anwar's associate, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, gave notice that it would initiate a debate on ‘cronyism and nepotism’. The response was swift, as Mahathir issued lists of cronies who had benefited from government share allocations and privatizations."

"To the chagrin of Anwar and his allies, several of them were on the list, including Anwar and Zahid …” wakakaka

Aiyo, cheen chnea ch'au loh - hell of a stench - wakakaka!

Malaysiakini urged to be careful

(2) Until the Permatang Pauh by-election takes place on 26 August I’ll share with you one or more Penang Hokkien words, both for my personal improvement as well as to be prepared in case Arif Shah and Anwar have a kongsamkok debate in Penang Hokkien ;-)

These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.

Tua hau seow = big bullsh*tter or liar as in ‘ee cheen chnea tua hau seow’ (he/she is a big bullsh*tter or liar) - ADVICE: don't use this term in front of a Penang sweetie - though it's not obscene per se it's quite crude, and may ruin your 'chances' with her ;-)

Tua p’au sian = also big bullsh*tter but more as a braggart as in ‘ee see tau p’au sian lai’ (he/she is one big braggart!)

Luan choo kong = talking rubbish or nonsense but different from ‘mm sar mm see’ –the former implies an irresponsible or even malicious intent, while the latter is just harmless gibberish. Used as in ‘mian luan choo kong uah, ay hai tioh larng’ (don’t talk irresponsibly; someone could suffer because of your words)

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When I saw the Malaysiakini headline You are on your own, journalists told I knew it referred to the recent case of a Berita Harian as well as a foreign photojournalists, covering the Permatang Pauh by-election, being assaulted, allegedly by a PKR mob.

But I thought that statement was pretty Pontius Pilate, rather ‘couldn’t care less’ (apathetic) towards the safety of the media in Permatang Pauh. Now, who would be so politically stupid as to say that?

But when I read the news in full I get a different picture.

According to Malaysiakini, quoting a Bernama report, BN candidate for the Permatang Pauh by-election, Arif Shah, had actually expressed his concerns for the safety of the reporters, saying:

"Look after your own safety while covering the event. I sympathised with two photographers who were set upon by several people while covering the nomination yesterday."

He lamented the report that some PKR supporters had allegedly used violence against photographers covering the event.

Indeed quite a different picture from what one would form by just reading the headline which seems to suggest to reporters that “mate, you’re on your bloody own coz we can’t be looking after you!”

Malaysiakini could have a better headline like ‘Journalists urged to be careful!’

Snippets from Permatang Pauh

Until the Permatang Pauh by-election takes place on 26 August, I’ll share with you one or more Penang Hokkien words, both for my personal improvement as well as to be prepared in case Arif Shah and Anwar have a kongsamkok debate in Penang Hokkien ;-)

These are genuine tulin (not tu larn) Hokkien words peculiar to Penang Island.

Kongsamkok = literally ‘talk 3 kingdoms’ or idle chitchat as in ‘ee larng tua tee kopitiam kongsamkok’ [they were chitchatting about anything, everything and nothing (of importance) in the coffee shop]

Kik kik kok kok = all sorts of things as in ‘ee kong kar kik kik kok kok’ (he/she talked till he covered all sorts of things)

Mm sar mm see = rubbish or nonsense as in ‘ee kong mm sar mm see’ (he/she was talking rubbish)

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Malaysiakini reported PKR to investigate attack on pixmen but Anwar Ibrahim cautioned that those thugs could well be agent provocateurs.

Yes, that’s possible, though PKR security people and Anwar’s bodyguards have a notorious record of unnecessary aggressive behaviour, even towards neutral parties like bystander, supporters or the press.

Malaysiakini also reported in Candidate accuses BN of 'dirty tricks' that Anwar condemned the government of a dirty tricks campaign to disrupt his election prospects in Permatang Pauh. He claimed that the BN had ordered its supporters to heckle him with shouts of ‘sodomy’ and ‘liwat’.

Yes, we know that. Since when have Malaysian politics, especially during election campaigns, ever been without dirty tricks – eg. Chua Soi Lek, Najib, and I have even heard of terrible stuff about Dr M and Vincent Tan.

Then there’s stories about Samy Vellu too, and recently I heard very geli tales of Hishamuddin and Shahrir Samad – wakakaka.

Meanwhile, in the Star Online, Dr Mahathir dares Anwar to swear on the Quran instead of just going around to ceramahs to counter Saiful’s oath-taking on the sodomy allegations.

Dr M admitted that the oath taking would be just a political gesture and not to be taken as legal proof but nonetheless he believed that’s what Anwar, a prominent figure on the Malaysian political scene, should be doing to meet (Muslim) public sentiment.

Now that's challenge and if I were Anwar, I'll just do it to silence the critics once and for all.

Here's another Penang Hokkien word - lahsum = kotor = dirty or salacious, as in 'the campaign in Permatang Pauh has been, is and will be lahsum, the stories I heard about pollies have been lahsum and the personalities involved in those stories (and campaigns) were/are equally lahsum'.

Permatang Pauh, PAS and pregnancy

Looks like our PKR Brown Shirts have been at it again, bashing photojournalists for daring to snap photos where their Mahdi is around.

The Star Online tells us in Pixman claims assault by PKR supporters that allegedly 20 PKR supporters bashed Berita Harian photographer, Siren Nafiz, outside the Maktab Perguruan Tuanku Bainun where the nominations for the Permatang Pauh by-election were held on Saturday morning. They stole his RM15,000 camera plus accessories as well.

Those thugs also allegedly assaulted Halim Berber, a photojournalist from a foreign (French based) press when he went to pull Siren out from the mob.

Just less than 2 weeks ago the same PKR hooligans walloped and attempted to strangle a woman photojournalist from Guang Ming Daily – see my post Follies of foul foolish fanaticism which led Dr Wan Azizah to apologize to the injured journalist.

Looks like it’s still SNAFU (Situation Normal, All F**ked Up) with those PKR mob.

Meanwhile Malaysiakini tells us that PAS leader slams Saiful's swearing act where wannabe PM Pak Haji Hadi Awang condemned Saiful Bukhari Azlan's act of swearing on the Quran as an act of kebodohan (stupidity) which went against the teachings of Islam.

He declared: "We don't have this practice in Islam. It is the Christians who swear on the bible."

Hmmm, does this mean that Christians have been and are bodoh (stupid)?

I heard from a friend that it was the respected Mufti of Perlis who suggested that the two antagonists take an oath on the Quran.

Now, between the Mufti and the wannabe PM, who do you reckon would be the one making the politically influenced statement re swearing on the Quran?

Then, it seems that PAS is back pedalling on the demands by one of its delegates (to its Dewan Ulama and Youth assemblies) that Pakatan State governments, inclusive of Penang, Perak and Selangor, ban alcohol and gambling.

KNN, no mah-jong and aw kau (Guiness)? And that Holy Grail of all, the 1st prize draw from the 4-Ekor?

That’s blasphemy to the Chinese (and where 4-Ekor is involved, for some Muslims as well), which the Chinese dailies gave wide coverage to.

PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaafar said that the Chinese news agencies would be called for a special meeting after the muktamar because the press might have wrongly interpret issues raised at the assemblies.

‘... wrongly interpret …’? Sounds familiar and UMNO-ish, doesn’t it - wakakaka

And why has there been this unusual concern about what the Chinese may think?

According to Malaysiakini news article Delegates: Woo non-Muslims Fahmi Abdul Wahab, the PAS delegate who has been concerned about the lack of pregnancy arising (or not arising) from the Pakatan marriage a la ménage à trois, said: “Arn chnua boe tua pa tor koe? Kau teh ee ay yeow sut boe?”* - wakakaka

* why not pregnant yet, could it be that he doesn't know how to 'sut'

Nah, just joking ;-) – he said “We support the party president’s policy speech where he called for PAS supporters club members to be given a bigger role.”

The PAS supporters club are made up of non-Muslims.

Malaysiakini reported that several delegates at the PAS muktamar have called on the party leadership to reach out to non-Muslims and encourage their participation in the party. These guys wanted to exploit and harness the support of non-Muslims who have been pissed off with UMNO.

They pointed out to PAS political benefit in this respect in Kedah and Perak where Chinese voters had cast their ballots for the Islamic party.

But on the subject of the PAS delegates’ apparent rejection of Anwar as a possible prime minister, Kamaruddin Jaafar said “Aiyah, man man lai lah!”

He tap danced away, saying it was still too early to talk about a possible Pakatan candidate for the post. Besides a certain Pak Haji fancies himself as the PM too.

KNN ;-)

Saturday's "It's not true ....." (4)

To highlight the unusual 'Chinese' factor in the PP by-election where nearly 70% of voters are Malays, I have decided to use a number of phrases in typical Penang Hokkien, initially without translation, but in response to complaints I have now included the translations (as close I can possibly make them) in coloured highlights, just beneath the respective phrases ;-)


It's not true that ........

(1) candidates for the Permatang Pauh's by-election will have to undertake a Chinese language test

(2) which may be in Mandarin or Penang Hokkien

(3) Arif Shah has challenged Anwar Ibrahim to take the test in both lingo

(4) Anwar replied man man lai

(5) Dr Mahathir said, Arif hoe liao see hoe liao tapi boe kau liao

Arif is real good (as a candidate) but still not good enough against .....

(6) Arif was heard to say karn neen nay (KNN) mend char koay teow lah

KNN = f* it or damn or blast! - don't char koay teow (don't stir it ...)

(7) Meanwhile PAS Penang delegate Mohd Fahmi Abdul Wahab is real tu larn with Penang Pakatan

tu larng larn = fed up

(8) Fahmi said kahwin see guoi geet kar Pakatan liao pun boe tua pah tor koe

married to Pakatan for 4 months yet still not pregnant

(9) boe th'an bong bong soe soe (BBSS), mar nar ay tua pah tor ah

ta'dapat rubba rubba (BBSS) pun mana boleh jadi hamil - without a chance to touch and caress, how in the world will the spouse be pregnant

(10) He was advised to jip been cheng mooi if no tua pah tor has been the problem

enter by the front door if no pregnancy has been the problem

(11) DAP sweetie chided kaytee with lu cheen chnea heow see boe - mend kare hair tau eu lah, hoe boe

you sangat gatal, 'kan, jangan taruh tau eu (soya sauce - add to the char koay teow stirring), boleh kah! - [sorry, English words won't do this justice ;-)]

(12) to which I replied tham poh nia, regarding the heow-ness, tapi wah hair kar chay tau eu, balu kar hoe chea mah

heow = gatal, miang

tham poh nia = sedikit saja lah

tapi I add more tau eu to make the meal (or story) more appetizing

Hadi Awang - more Malay than Muslim?

I wasn’t at all surprised when I read Malaysiakini news article Hadi non-committal on Anwar's PM bid, because Pak Haji would have stabbed Pakatan in the back long ago if not for Pak Haji Nik Aziz.

Despite Hadi Awang's avowed Islamic affiliation he’s basically another of those ketuanan Melayu person, where being Malay would be far more important than being Muslim.

He was the head of the faction that wanted to do a secret deal with UMNO to seize power in Perak and Selangor, probably with some incentives of PAS MPs joining the federal cabinet - forming a Pan-Melayu alliance despite what PAS had said of UMNO during the years and especially in the pre-election campaign.

Following exposure of his hanky panky footsie rubba rubba with UMNO under the Pakatan table, he was asked whether he had threatened to pull PAS out of Pakatan. Though he denied that, note how he qualified his answer that PAS wants to be part of a Pakatan government which is rooted by Malay-Muslims.

Then using the BN as a reference, as if the BN has been/is an exemplary model, where its leader has always been a Malay (I use the term ‘Malay’ only because ‘Malay-Muslim’ would be tautological as there is no such person as a non-Muslim Malay in Malaysia), Hadi Awang said:

"This is accepted by all parties, including Barisan Nasional component parties, which accepts a Malay as their leader. If there is a change (in the federal government) this would be accepted by all parties including the DAP and other Pakatan members. The core has to be Malay-Muslims."

Not just Muslims, but Malay-Muslims. No, not even an Indian or Chinese Muslim.

Therefore in his narrow provincial parochial perception of Islam, it’s not just a mere Muslim that’s worthy of leading his aspired Islamic nation (perhaps unless that person is the superior Arab, where Hadi Awang would then probably cringe before and fawn upon).

That person must be from the Malay race!

So what does that make him?

A Muslim or a race-conscious person who would not accept a Muslim as the nation's leader unless that Muslim is also a Malay?

But when asked whether he would accept Anwar Ibrahim, who is both a Malay and a Muslim, as the PM of a Pakatan government, Hadi Awang remained silent ..... implying ‘NO’!

No doubt the Hadi bloke himself wants to be the PM.

Well, given his true colours showing through his words and actions, would he then be considered as a Muslim tulin (pure, genuine) enough to head PAS, as he would when the elderly Pak Haji Nik Aziz retires?

Or is he no more than an ordinary ambitious (perhaps even power crazy) Malay politician?

Islam has been the great equalizer of social classes, where centuries ago, many Indian converted to Islam because as Muslims, they became equal within society without suffering the stupid sickening stigma of such an inhuman concept as lower social caste?

Now, what did I say about those who had insulted Islam?

Anwar Ibrahim - Permatang Pauh no easy ride?

In an earlier post Permatang Pauh - simplified mathematics I toyed around with some basic assumptions and predicted that Anwar Ibrahim would win the parliamentary constituency his wife had vacated for him, though by a slightly reduced majority (11,000 compared to Dr Wan's 13,000).

Since then, we have been regaled by the shocking news in Malaysiakini that the PKR MP for neighbouring Kulim Bandar Baharu, Zulkifli Noordin, had been the most virulent of the protest leaders barracking the Bar Council’s forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’ – see Malaysiakini news articles Rival groups unified in protest, Protesters stop Bar's 'conversion' forum and Moments of chaos during forum.

Undoubtedly the MCA, Gerakan and MIC will be lavishing loving attention to this disgraceful PKR episode during the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign.

In Malaysia, playing bigoted ethno-religious games can sometimes be a double–edged sword. An ethnic hero for group A would be an racist asshole to group B, and vice versa.

But the word being circulated is that the crucial element for victory in Permatang Pauh lies with the non Malays, as the Malay votes are already spoken for and set in concrete.

This may explain a few happenings, but I won’t go into these yet, except to note that in the Malaysiakini news article BN candidate: I can defeat Anwar UMNO has selected Arif Shah Omar Shah, the Seberang Jaya ADUN, to be its candidate for the parliamentary by-election.

It’s very rare that UMNO (or BN) would nominate an existing ADUN to stand as a candidate for a parliamentary seat. By reading the various bits and pieces we put together the UMNO perception that Arif Shah would be the best possible candidate against the de facto PKR Godzilla, for two reasons – in the face of the Pakatan March tsunami, Arif has been the only UMNO candidate in the last election to win a State seat (which lies within the Permatang Pauh constituency), and he speaks Mandarin, a huge plus if the Chinese votes are courted, as well as Hokkien, the lingua franca of Penang Islanders.

Can he be a giant killer?

Let’s examine the numbers in the above Malaysiakini table on the voters’ numbers, turnouts and preferences.

Numbers of voters turnout for the parliamentary seat and the 3 state seats combined were almost the same, at 47,300 (only 7 votes difference suggesting perhaps spoilt votes for the parliamentary seat), so the figure would be right.

The constituency has 58,459 registered voters, therefore the turnout was almost 81%, an excellent figure normally associated with Malay dominated seats where high profile candidates (eg. Dr Wan Azizah) were contesting. No mahjong game to distract or occupy the voters' attention ;-)

This time we may expect perhaps an 85% turnout because of the mega profile person in Anwar Ibrahim. We may be looking at, say, 50,000 voters to troop to the polling station on 26 August.

Reviewing the last election, the total votes for the 3 State seats numbered 20,093 (call it 20,100 for rounded figures) whereas Dr Pirdaus Ismail only received 16,950. This meant that slightly over 3,000 UMNO voters* who had supported the States' candidates didn’t like him or preferred Dr Wan.

* I am of course simplifying figures by assuming those who had voted for the 3 UMNO State candidates were all Malays. In reality there could be Chinese and Indian voters who had voted for, say, Arif Shah.

With Arif Shah as the UMNO-BN candidate, will these 3,000 Malay voters return to the UMNO banner?

If they do, Arif will enjoy, for a start, around 20,100.

If the MCA and Gerakan succeed in swinging back half of the March 30% swing to Pakatan …

… and again working on some simplified assumptions like 75% Chinese turnout, 60% supporting Arif (based on normal Chinese support for BN = 75% minus 30% swing away in March = 45% plus 15% recovered by 26 August = 60%)

… will give Arif another 1350 votes.

Again, playing with the same sort of simplified assumptions with the Indian voters, the best I can work out in favour for Arif would be just another 400 votes …

… giving Arif a total of 20,100 + 1350 + 400 = 21850

… and allowing for a fair share of the expected additional 5% turnout, Arif gets almost 23,000 votes out of a possible 50,000.

Anwar Ibrahim still wins, but by a smaller majority of 4,000. In my previous post (pre the Kulim Wonder, and without knowing who would be the UMNO candidate) I had guess-timated Anwar's majority to be nearly 11,000.

If UMNO can persuade another 2,001 voter to return to the fold or to vote against Anwar, the de facto leader could well be in trouble.

The Chinese and Indians won’t be swayed by the sodomy allegation so the above assumed Chinese-Indian swing back to BN will probably be the maximum likely. That 2,001 crucial votes will have to come from the Malays.

But of course it’s just kaytee’s amateurish maths based on his perceptions and unscientific assumptions.

A bouquet for Anwar Ibrahim

Finally!

Anwar Ibrahim has come out of 'hiding' to comment on the aborted Bar Council’s forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’.

And let it not be said that kaytee is not fair – I like what I hear from him, yes indeed, even if it’s a case of ‘better late than never’.

In a Malaysiakini news article authored by no less than Steven Gan and Kabilan, titled PKR leader: Action will be taken against errant MP I get to hear some real leadership statements from him.

No, it’s not about hunting down the Kulim Wonder, demagogue Zulkifli Noordin, the PKR MP who incited the storming of forum a la Apcet II, for him to face the music from his party, and who has since then mysteriously disappeared. Some claimed he has been detained by the police though the men in blue have denied that accusation.

Incidentally, Haris Ibrahim has accused Zulkifli Noordin (and Salehuddin Ayub) as 'lying, deceiving and manipulative politicians' for fear-mongering about Article 11. Wow!

Anyway, Anwar Ibrahim said he had argued that the Bar Council forum should be allowed to proceed … though we haven’t heard that until now …

… but never mind ...

He averred: "We have communicated to the Bar Council our views. And PAS had came out with a statement. (Party leader Abdul) Hadi (Awang) had made it quite clear, that we must allow (the forum) ... but it has to be close door."

Above underlining mine

"I have tried to get Muslim leaders to appreciate the fact that we must allow a discussion (on religious issues). If you're not confident (to discuss the matter), then there's something wrong with our belief and faith. You must be confident to express, counter and argue.”

"If you feel that the Muslim representation (at such discussions) is not adequate, not competent (to argue the issues), then you send adequate and competent people there."

Well said!

Anwar also revealed he met with Dr Mehrun Siraj, a renowned International Islamic University law lecturer, who was one of the participants at the Bar Council forum and who had chided the racists shouting within with a stern "Open discussion is the way to discuss the issues between Muslims and non-Muslims. Don’t insult Islam."

Malaysiakini reported Anwar referring to what Dr Mehrun had told him of a woman at the forum providing her views on the contentious issue of conversion while the bigots were raging. Anwar revealed:

"She said something which was startling. Not only non-Muslims but Muslims should have listened (to her). We have lost that chance."

Indeed!

At long last he has dropped his man man lai nonsense and got on to real leadership business. ;-)

Who had insulted Islam?

In Malaysiakini news article on the abandoned forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’, titled Bar Council's forum: More shelling for police, protesters we are informed that 12 NGOs and (amazingly) the MCA including Ong KT came out to condemn the bully-boy tactics of some Muslim protestors a la Apcet II as well as the all-too-ready capitulation of the police to those thugs.

One Malaysiakini reader was heard to say that no doubt the police would have acted differently if those hooligan protestors were Hindraf members or non-Muslims.

Rare would be the Muslim politicians who dared to support the forum. Not even the world’s greatest deformasi leader attempted to peek out of the turtle shell he has suddenly hidden within.

On the other hand his Kulim Wonder, Zulkifli Noordin, according to Malaysiakini, were among those entering the auditorium to disrupt the forum, and had also called on the already infuriated crowd to storm the building should the forum continue. It would seem that someone in PKR had to wave the flag!

Such has been and will be the emotion that some Muslims feel about any form of discussions on inter-faith relationship that they would pre-empt any such discussions by launching aggressive actions to disrupt, derail and discourage its eventuating.

So disgraceful had been the behaviour of those thuggish protestors that Malaysiakini tells us even Pergerakan Progresif Mahasiswa Islam (Promis) and Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) condemned the aggressive nature of the demonstration for not even bothering to find out whether the forum would in fact be insulting Islam.

A spokesman for Promis said: “The use of abusive language, aggression and threats to halt the forum are un-Islamic, undemocratic and goes against the principles of Islam. We also condemn the act of passing judgment on the forum based on assumptions only.”

kaytee’s take is that ethno-centric interests were more prominent than Islamic piety, where abuses degenerated to ‘babi’ and ‘balik China’. Those racist remarks were an affront to the dignity of Islam but the so-called Muslim perpetrators didn’t give a shit, did they?

Oh no, not when the most important by-election in Malaysia for the last 50 years is just around the corner.

Permatang Pauh!

UMNO leaders said the forum would be insensitive and thus wasn't favoured. Anwar said while he’s liberal, he too (like AAB) wasn't in favour of such a forum - meaning he wasn’t liberal, not with Permatang Pauh in mind – but then that sort of double talk has been precisely what MCA Youth Chief Liow Tiong Lai had described about Anwar, as reported by Malaysiakini in its MCA attack on Anwar draws PKR's ire.

The olde UMNO’s ‘agama, bangsa, dam negara’ have been adopted by UMNO, PKR and PAS in a bid to win the hearts and minds of the heartland.

But the sad part has been that agama dan bangsa have been rolled into one, but with bangsa predominating, as to be expected of the component with base values. To PAS’ credit, the racist sickness seemed to have affected mainly UMNO and PKR thugs.

Yes, currently no UMNO or PKR Malay leader like Anwar would want to touch the issue with a ten foot pole, with probably the sole exception being socialist Dr Syed Husin who was pissed off with Zulkifli Noordin.

Any attempts to hold such a dialogue or forum would be a Sisyphean endeavour. Most Muslims would understandably be suspicious of the non-Muslim motives whilst the non-Muslims would be stressed, frustrated and angry by what they see as a proselytizing Islamic movement encroaching into their lives and rights.

Body snatching in some instances caused by overzealous Islamic officers or the consequences of the sinister motives of certain family members of the deceased who saw personal advantage in having their dead relative ‘become’ a Muslim.

Conversion by one spouse in an already broken marriage, again in a few cases, brought about by similar sinister exploitation of Islam to benefit a specific spouse, have all added to the anger, animosities and anxieties.

Then we mustn't forget the UMNO Education Minister who introduced compulsory (i.e by compulsion) the weekly baca doa in Malaysian schools even for non-Muslim studnets - a disturbing disgusting disgraceful proselytizing pundee policy of deformasi - no doubt to enhance political popularity in an ambitious meteoric career path.

Years ago, a 13 or 14-year old Chinese girl was technically raped and kidnapped by her Malay teacher when they eloped. When the teenager’s parents sought justice in the civil court system to have their 14-year old daughter returned rightfully to their parental care, the civil court judges (all Malay Muslims) let them totally down, abandoning the law and legal precedence.

Who had insulted Islam then? Who had misused and subverted the good name of Islam for their own interests, personal and political? Who had shown the world that a Muslim could rob the cradle with impunity to have a sexual relationship with an underage girl? And I am not talking about Malacca but Kelantan!

While an open forum may not be ideal for our Malaysian mentality as yet, if there was any insult to Islam, I would say thus far it was not perpetuated by non-Muslims.

Where politicians come from?

We read in Malaysiakini those politicians at it again such as in Muhyiddin: Vote-buying rampant in Umno.

The UMNO VP sounds a bit frustrated, but seems to be unaware that there is a by-election for UMNO just around the corner. Nice shooting in the foot ;-)

Then we have, also from Malaysiakini, MCA attack on Anwar draws PKR's ire.

It tells us that MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai called Anwar Ibrahim a ‘double faced and split-tongued’ politician.

Hmmm ….. but the Malaysiakini headline is a bit boringly obvious – why not something more sensational like ‘MCA called Anwar Nor T’au Chua’.

Then there’s Malaysiakini news article PKR sec-gen defends morality of defections.

That’s how rottenness starts – first the PKR pollies and supporters rationalise subversion of the ballot box (which is what the encouragement, enticement and egging of party defections really is); then as the new ‘ruling party’ they’ll do what UMNO has been doing gradually since 1957 (more subversion of the democratic process), and before you know it, they’ll be worse ...

... which incidentally they were (worst of the UMNOputras, that is), prior to being chuck out of UMNO for incompetent treachery, as in their attempt to sabotage Dr M with insinuations of nepotism and cronyism to get him out of his No 1 position a.s.a.p to make way for their 'One & Only', but instead were so incompetent that they found Dr M showing proof of their 'One & Only' as the one actually practising nepotism and cronyism.

Yes, that's how incompetent they had been!

Reading the above, I kinda like the following story:

A woman went to her doctor for advice.

She told him that her husband had developed a penchant for anal sex and she was not sure that it was such a good idea.

'Do you enjoy it?' The doctor asked.

'Well actually, yes, I do', she exclaimed.

'Does it hurt you?' he asked.

'No. I rather like it.'

'Well, then,' the doctor continued, 'there's no reason that you shouldn't practice anal sex, if that's what you like, so long as you take care not to get pregnant.'

The woman was mystified, 'What? You can get pregnant from anal sex?'’

'Of course,' the doctor replied. 'Where do you think politicians come from'?

Wakakaka!

Malay Unity achieved?

‘Ketuanan Melayu’ or ‘Malay supremacy’ is a cherished policy in some bigoted quarters in Malaysia. In reality those supremacist bigots are pretend-bigots only; they only promote ‘ketuanan Melayu’ to ensure their personal lion’s share of the Malaysian cake, particularly government contracts, etc. It’s their 1st class ticket to the the wonderful gravy train.

When the continuation of a ‘ketuanan Melayu’ policy was perceived to be somewhat jeopardised in the last election, the solution towards ameliorating the undesired change was the call for ‘Malay unity’.

UMNO decided to play sexy footsies with PAS, on the quiet of course without even informing, let alone consulting, its non-Malay BN partners. The Hadi Awang faction of PAS was (maybe still is) keen and receptive, and likewise, treated its Pakatan allies like mushrooms - you know, keep them in the dark and feed them bullsh*t.

For a wee recollection, please see Malaysiakini news article Saari: Some PAS leaders keen on pact with Umno, where Saari gave Malaysiakini the low down on how keen both PAS deputy president Nasaruddin Mat Isa and the party’s commissioner for Terengganu Mustapha Ali were to gabung with UMNO because they wanted PAS to hold some key ministerial posts in the UMNO-led federal government.

Fortunately for Pakatan, PAS’ spiritual leader Pak Haji Nik Aziz, torpedoed the covert ‘Malay unity’ talks for a Pan-Malay alliance to seize Perak and Selangor from Pakatan. Pak Haji gave UMNO the good olde two fingers flick.

But PKR’s Mohamad Fairus Khairudin, who’s the deputy CM of Penang, on the other hand indicated in a Star Online article titled Open dialogue with all Malay groups, Umno urged, that he wanted PKR included in UMNO’s ‘Malay unity’ muzakarah (discussions). In fact he pointedly said that UMNO should invite PKR's Malay leaders, besides those from PAS.

Note his 'PKR's Malay leaders' as opposed to 'PKR leaders'

Well, I have wonderful news for the ‘ketuanan Melayu’ and ‘Malay unity’ camps.

After a couple of nights of viewing the Olympics Games on TV (spotted a good looking sweetie among the Honkies), I have just read Malaysiakini news article Rival groups unified in protest, where UMNO, PKR and PAS were united in opposing the Bar Council’s forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’.

There was a mob mood with shouts of, unsurprisingly, “Hancur Bar Council” (Crush Bar Council), “Hidup Islam” (Long Live Islam) and “Batal forum” (Cancel the forum).

OK, those sort of calls were to be expected in protests against a forum that Muslims might have (incorrectly or otherwise) perceived as anti-Islam.

From my reading of Malaysiakini news articles including Protesters stop Bar's 'conversion' forum and Moments of chaos during forum, it would appear the most virulent of the protest leaders had been … surprise surprise (or should it be?) … PKR’s Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Zulkifli Noordin, who, according to Malaysiakini, were among those entering the auditorium to disrupt the forum.

The acorn sure as hell doesn’t fall far from the oak tree!

His PKR colleague, firebrand cleric Dr Badrul Amin Baharom, had tried valiantly to keep the crowd under control by setting a more relaxed tone for the demonstration, but according to Malaysiakini, the Kulim wonder, Zulkifli Noordin, broke ranks with his opposition colleagues and called on the already infuriated crowd to storm the building should the forum continue - shades of Apcet II, and for more read this.

Mind you, Zulkifli informed Malaysiakini that he was representing Lawyers in Defence of Islam (Pembela) and not his party PKR. But really, should such a person, who wanted to 'rempuh' (charge) a forum be an MP of a democracy? Mind you, that (rempuh) was done before to an international forum, Apcet II, so what's a mere local forum consisting of Malaysians considered to be against Islam!

I suppose that was inevitable when his de facto leader had recently claimed to be a liberal yet in the very same breath distanced himself from the Bar Council forum.

While I can understand the protestors carrying placards like 'Jangan cabar Islam' (Don’t challenge Islam) and 'Bar Council, Don’t play with fire', I deplore their abusing of several forum participants with profanities when the latter came out of the Bar Council building.

Malaysiakini told us that there were shouts of 'pengkhianat', 'babi' and 'balik China', as forum participants leave the venue. Similar vile bigoted calls were heard inside the forum building as well, which led renowned International Islamic University law lecturer Dr Mehrun Siraj to reprimand those who made the racist remarks, stating "Open discussion is the way to discuss the issues between Muslims and non-Muslims. Don’t insult Islam."

Leaving 'pengkhianat' aside, the disgraceful shouts of 'babi' and 'balik China', as Dr Mehrun Siraj succinctly pointed out, were in fact insulting to Islam. No Freudian slip, they were expressions of plain racism, apart from the bigots’ poor knowledge of geography.

And even if we allow for geographical error, there are five times more Muslims in China than in Malaysia, people whose ancestors embraced Islam some eight hundred years before Sri Vijaya's Parameswara became Sultan Iskandar Shah.

Anyway ...

... keutuhan, keunggulan & keuntungan kem ‘ketuanan Melayu’ terkukuh.

Anwar Ibrahim: "Shouldn't Saiful be charged too?"

But before they [the angels] lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know [have sex with] them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. - (Genesis 19:4-11)

The above paragraphs are from the Biblical Book of genesis which talks about Sodom and Gomorrah, where the inhabitants were so depraved they would rather ‘know’ two strangers (jambu-looking angels) than Lot’s two virgin daughters. The sin (and Malaysian crime) of sodomy has its origin in those biblical cities.

Fast forward 4 thousand years to 07 August 2008 - 'If consensual, why charge me only?', the damning query from Anwar Ibrahim was published by Malaysiakini to the embarrassment of the Attorney-General who gave the instruction for the PKR’s de facto leader to be charged for an alleged offence of sodomy.

In the charge the prosecution had quoted Section 377B of the Penal, namely 'committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature' which means the sex was consensual, because the more sinister Section 377C says 'committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature without consent', meaning rape.

Malaysiakini reported that the DPP argued that "the interpretation of section 377B is open on whether the offence was done with or without consent as the provision is silent on the word ‘consent’."

Even as a legal layperson I would say that’s bullsh*t argument by the DPP because where Section 377C exists, the prosecution cannot and should not charge a person under Section 377B and insist on alluding to the possibility or existence of sex ‘without consent’.

Obviously, the prosecution has opted for Section 377B instead of 377C of the penal Code because it’s far more difficult to prove rape unless the police can come up with supporting evidence of physical force or even non-physical coercion.

There may be a number of possibilities arising from this damning challenge, namely if the charge has been Section 377B (consensual sex), then why hasn’t Saiful Bukhari Azlan been charged too for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature?

Possibility 1
The prosecution may well charge Saiful tomorrow under the same Penal Code Section. This may be done to neutralize Anwar’s very legitimate query. I imagine the prosecution saying: "Now, who said that we weren't going to charge Saiful? C'mon lah, man man lai mah."

But if Saiful was party to the government’s plot to condemn Anwar, then Saiful may well not accept being ‘shafted’ again (excuse the pun) with a criminal charge, and possibly spill the beans.

Possibility No 2
The prosecution may revise the charge to Section 377C but the difficulties then would be in proving Anwar had raped Saiful.

Possibility No 3
The prosecution may bulldoze its way along the DPP's argument that "the interpretation of section 377B is open on whether the offence was done with or without consent as the provision is silent on the word ‘consent’."

A bloody poor and weak approach.

Possibility No 4
Assuming there is a plot to screw Anwar politically, then it may well be that the plan has never been to jail him (either because of the difficulties of gathering the evidence or the adverse diplomatic as well as domestic political repercussions), but to drag him slowly and excruciatingly through a public court case and expose his intimate liaison with Saiful. In other words, use the court case to smear sh*t all over his reputation.

Possibility No 4 will be the most damaging to Anwar where he will win the legal case but lose the political one (with respect to the ‘heartland’).


OK, another issue that jumps to my mind has been the accusation that the alleged sodomy was either an UMNO plot (as described above) or a consequence of a falling out between two erstwhile ‘lovers’ (if the latter, as far as I am concerned, it's none of our business).

If it has been an UMNO plot to screw up Anwar, with Saiful as the alleged accomplice (as he has been accused by PKR), then for him to seek a medical examination with Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid at Pusrawi was lazy plotting or sheer stupidity.

Then, some have accused Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid of being an Islamic brethren of Anwar Ibrahim in some Islamic organization, thus his medical report or notes or whatever has been alleged as favourable to Anwar, but I won’t go into that for now.

By the way, there’s also a Dr Raffick who raised some doubts as to Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid’s assertion that there was no sodomy perpetrated on Saiful – see Malaysiakini Doc stands by 'no sodomy' findings where Dr Mohd Osman has asserted this by resorting to our well-known Statutory Declaration - the stock of Stat Dec forms must be running low by now.

I had blogged on one of Dr Raffick’s earlier analyses on Dr Mohd Osman’s medical report – see my post Dr Raffick dismissed RPK's intepretation of doctor's report. Since then I heard he has written another or perhaps even a couple more, but I leave that to you readers to go find out.

If it has been an UMNO plot, could UMNO’s implementation of the scheme against Anwar be so piss-poor as to have Saiful medically checked by a doctor of ‘unknown allegiance’, and faced the inevitable report that there was no forced banging? Couldn't the UMNO mastermind nominate a doctor out of a host of 'more reliable' doctors?

This has been the most puzzling item in the entire drama. Because of this, there is a strong argument to believe that Saiful went on his own accord to Pusrawi.

One could be easily led to believe that if there was any sex at all as alleged, it would have been consensual, where the aftermath had turned emotionally sour for the pair. What made Saiful believe he was ‘raped’ or sodomised without consent remains open for conjecture and salacious dissections.

Though I am not a Muslim, I've also thought Anwar’s refusal to swear an oath on the Qu’ran that he didn’t do it, hasn't done him much good. This is not so much a legal requirement but more of a socially-moral expectation. I believe Anwar should have taken the oath.

In other countries, consensual sodomy is not a crime but an issue protected from hoteyes and ears by the laws of Privacy. In Malaysia it’s not only a legal crime but a religious and socially-moral sin. The latter is the more damning of the two.

Maybe Anwar’s enemies seek moral rather than legal prosecution and persecution against him. By doing so, they could be avoiding the martyr-ising of Anwar Ibrahim, but instead advocating the muddying of Anwar Ibrahim’s name.

De facto déjà vu

The bad sad news is given by Malaysiakini in its Anwar: I'll be charged tomorrow.

Not that I have become an overnight anwarista or one sympathetic to him, but I just don’t like the chain of events where the main opposition personality was accused of sodomy, and then after a lengthy police investigation, will be (tomorrow, according to the Malaysiakini news report) charged with that alleged crime.

Regardless of whether there’s truth in the allegation of sodomy, the official action won’t be good for Malaysian politics, more so when Anwar was imprisoned for a similar conviction of sodomy years ago.

However, until Anwar has been found guilty, as per the law, he is deemed innocent and may stand as a candidate in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

I do not have sufficient understanding of the Malay psyche with regards to a case of sodomy to know how the charge will affect their political perception of his candidature in Permatang Pauh. But I understand to those with strong Islamic faith, sodomy is a horrendous crime.

Needless to say, some will straightaway dismiss the charge as a frame-up whilst others will tsk tsk Anwar for his alleged vice.

But for the other ethnic groups, I dare say the charge of sodomy against Anwar will only win him more support as the 'non' voters in Permatang Pauh will root for the underdog. I suspect any swing back to the BN after the euphoria leading up to the March election may now be denied.

I have no doubt the case will be dissected in a thousand ways in kopitiams all over the nation, by millions of experts in every aspects of criminal law (civil and Islamic), sodomy, DNA, political strategy and whatnot. We're a nation of experts, if not anything.

Everyone knows that I have neither respect nor support for Anwar as a politician, and I have never cloaked my adverse political view of him, but nonetheless I don’t like seeing him incarcerated on the eve of his candidature for the by-election, particularly on a charge of sodomy.

I would rather expose his hypocritical reformasi and nonsensical populist policies.

Follies of foul foolish fanaticism

Now, this hasn't been the first time that PKR troopers have bashed photojournalists.

One month ago I posted PKR Brown Shirts based on a Malaysiakini article Press irked by PKR security volunteers which told us that Malaysiakini videographer Mohd Kamal Ishak was pushed and shoved by PKR security personnel who behaved like fanatical thugs during the PKR organized anti-fuel price rally.

I wrote: It seems strange when their de facto leader would have welcomed the publicity, these hoodlums instead tried to confiscate journalists’ cameras or cover their camera lens, as if their froggie Messiah was like a 'certain personality' (pbuh) whose photographs couldn’t/mustn't be taken or allowed to be taken.

The same thing happened again on Sunday night.

Malaysiakini tells us in Photographers may boycott PKR that Guang Ming Daily photojournalist Loh Hoay Hoon was bashed by PKR thugs which had her seeking medical attention at the Seberang Jaya Hospital.

Loh had attempted to photograph Malaysia’s pseudo-Mahdi, he whose photo couldn’t be taken, and was allegedly kicked, choked and hit on the head by a group of PKR security personnel.

Malaysiakini reported that: According to her police report, Loh was allegedly assaulted by the group of men who tailed her to a carpark after a ceramah by PKR supreme leader Anwar Ibrahim in Seberang Jaya, Penang.

Malaysiakini photo of brave PKR warriors bashing a woman photjournalist

It was not only the unrepentant PKR thuggish behavior in such incident after incident that pissed many off, but the unashamed bashing of a woman by men.

I can only term them as c***s, and I won’t say the word because there could be immature children from PKR who may read this post, but take it from me, the word is NOT ‘coward' but has only one vowel ‘u’.

As Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) has blogged in his post titled The cult called PKR:

That is the trouble with PKR. They dabble in cult personalities. When you are the current hot favourite, the flavour of the day, even your fart smells sweet. […]

The PKR crowd is one emotional group of people. I suspect that if Anwar was to order them to commit mass suicide they might just do so. And that is dangerous, as time and time again history has proven.

If Anwar could get a religious scholar somewhere in the world to come out with a fatwah (religious decree) that if you die for PKR you will go straight to heaven where 70 virgins are waiting for you, I bet we will not be short of candidates who will volunteer to undertake suicide missions. […]

The PKR people revere their idols and appear to lose their senses when in the presence of these demigods.

Well, no need for Anwar to enlist the help of a religious scholar - to those PKR cult acolytes, Anwar’s photo cannot be taken presumably because in their blinkered fanaticism, it’s against Islamic belief, and photographers like Loh will be bashed if not stoned to death.

Yesterday when I posted DAP infected by 'man man lai' vicious virulent virus I received the usual railings, rantings and ravings that I was not only against Anwar (which I have been very upfront with) but against DAP too ;-)

Why that accusation when anyone who has been reading my blog would know otherwise? Well, because I had criticized Lim Guan Eng and Charles Santiago.

For those immature cultists, as RPK had said, even Anwar’s fart would smell sweet, and may I add, even his sh*t would be like honey to those dumbos. So obviously my criticisms of Lim GE and Santiago must mean I am an UNNO cybertrooper. They cannot comprehend democratic practice and the right to criticise one's political leaders.

That’s the difference between the anwaristas and me, or that matter between anwaristas and any mature political follower. They should take a look at Western politics, to see how party members would drag their leaders over the coal for bullsh*t, whereas those anwaristas not only gobbled up Anwar’s poo willingly but even would attempt to tell others his faeces tasted yummy.

Let's look at those hypocrites' conduct:

Reformasi? Propagating frogs is okay if done by the PKR Mahdi - wakakaka. One bloke had the brazen gall to say that "when the BN is governing like shit ... even though it is unethical to ask BN guys to jump ship, it is something that has to be done."

“… unethical … [but] … something that has to be done …” wakakaka – that’s what I meant by eating ‘sweet’ sh*t.

“… 50 years of terrible BN rule …” but ignoring that Anwar Ibrahim was minister and DPM and acting PM for almost 2 decades.

“.. don’t bring up Anwar’s baggage … that’s in the past …” yet the same hypocrites would continuously remind us of Dr Mahathir’s sins.

“Anwar is innocent until proven guilty” and I agree with that, yet those fanatics won’t extend to Najib the same principles of law.

As Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

DAP infected by 'man man lai' vicious virulent virus?

As I wrote in Permatang Pauh - simplified mathematics, based on a Malaysiakini news article Anwar to kick off by-election campaign on Sunday, that Anwar Ibrahim will win comfortably in the Permatang Pauh by-election, but perhaps with a slightly reduced majority, say 28,900 total votes (based on an assumption that Permatang Pauh will have the same voters turnout of 47,000).

If my guess is correct, that will still give Anwar a sizeable majority of over 10800 (as compared to Dr Wan’s majority of 13,000).

If the voters turnout improves (and it may well be), Anwar should still win but his majority may go either way, either increased beyond 11,000 or reduced depending on the ethnic composition of those who could decide the by-election is important enough for them to troop out to cast their votes.

In the next post I will attempt to guess what BN-UMNO will be up to in their endeavour to reduce Anwar's winning majority, not so much in the hope of the UMNO candidate winning, but more for the psychological effect of a small winning majority by Anwar Ibrahim to the detriment of his credibility.

But disregarding the above, I thought Anwar’s campaigning has started on a bizarre hyperbole.

I found it ‘bizarre’ not because of the usual Anwar Ibrahim brummagem man man lai reformasi - bullsh*t in both reformasi (mana ada?) and his man man lai because in reality he’s in such an indecent haste to be PM by hook or by crook, and more likely the latter through froggies - but because the hyperbole was uttered by Lim Guan Eng.

In Malaysiakini news article Permatang Pauh's favourite son 'returns', Lim in his speech supporting Anwar Ibrahim’s campaign, said that Anwar was not a mere candidate for Permatang Pauh but as Pakatan Rakyat's nominee for prime minister.

Now, was Lim talking about Anwar positioning himself for a shot at the PM’s position in the next election in 2012, when Pakatan believes it will win the election, or was Lim caught by the real ‘no to man man lai’ intention of Anwar Ibrahim who wants to be PM NOW!

I think it would be the latter because I recall another Malaysiakini article Opposition: PM's transition plan a 'stunt' where Charles Santiago criticised Abdullah for not heeding the calls for him to resign immediately after the shocking results of the 12th general election.

Additionally Santiago also condemned AAB for brushing aside calls for an inquiry to investigate possible links between Najib and the Altantuyaa murder case.

Santiago said: "Instead, he has told the nation that his deputy would take over the reins of power in 2010. This in itself reflects that Abdullah must resign immediately and let the people choose the country's next prime minister."

Yes, that’s what Santiago said, namely “…Abdullah must resign immediately and let the people choose the country's next prime minister."

Hellooooo, Charles, I wasn’t aware that Malaysia has a presidential system where the nation’s political leader is elected directly by the voters?

It seems that the Charles Santiago has been caught by Anwar’s real ‘no to man man lai’ bug, to the extent he had probably fantasized about Anwar being ‘elected’ as a presidential-style PM by directly defeating AAB.

I am sorry if I seem to be repetitively targeting Charles Santiago, a man I respect very much for his 'water' campaigning. But lately he has certainly become controversial, first for his ‘defend Islam against Mukhriz Mahathir’ and now for Malaysia's PM being elected a la US presidential system. Alas, for a MP, he appeared to have forgotten what sort of political system we have, indeed for the last 50 years.

Now, back to Lim GE – if he was like Santiago caught by that insidious, invidious insurgent bug of Anwar’s real ‘harng fai tee lah’ campaign (which is another name for 'no to man man lai') - when he declared Anwar as the Pakatan’s nominee for PM at the rally in Seberang Jaya last night, was he advocating party hopping a la the infamous Sabah incident in 1994 when PBS under Pairin won with a majority of 2 seats, but found himself and his party (minus a number of slimy frogs) in the opposition? Truly a classic Malaysian case of democracy subverted!

If he was, I would be extremely disappointed that the once ideologically prim, proper and prudish DAP has succumbed to the reformasi corruption, where the rule of government is no longer by way of the ballot box but rather, through disgusting deceitful defection by MPs from the other side of politics.

It would seem therefore that Professor Chan Chee Khoon has been absolutely spot on with her quote of ‘how corrupting proximity to power can be, even at its fringes’.

And that once a DAP MP (virgin as he or she may be to corrupt politics, as would be the case of most DAP MPs and ADUNs) accedes to power, he/she would, as Prof Chan said, 'gravitate towards the mindset (or mentality) of developing the rationalisations and apologia' (big academic words for 'dishing out bullsh*t') of those 'ensconced in power, couched undoubtedly in the most sophisticated and persuasive of terms' (recall Lord Acton's 'power corrupts ...).

Then Lim GE exceeded my growing disappointment in him, when he reminded the people of Permatang Pauh that they had a "national duty to give a resounding mandate to the future premier. Permatang Pauh constituents must give Anwar a big win to launch the Pakatan Rakyat crusade to topple Barisan Nasional and capture the federal administration".

So … according to the DAP sec-gen, the political candidate no longer serves the people because it’s his/her constitutional duty. In the case of Anwar Ibrahim - where all sorts of inexplicable irrational and double standard exemptions exist for his non compliance with his own reformasi, which has been why I term his reformasi as brains baffling bullsh*tting brummagem braggadocio - Lim GE believes the people must serve the political candidate because it’s their national duty.

Anwar himself then boasted that he has to win the forthcoming by-election to take over the federal administration and initiate urgent crucial changes to save the country from the crisis it was going through.

“… win the forthcoming by-election to take over the federal administration …”?

While I have no doubt that Anwar Ibrahim will win Permatang Pauh, how in the world would a Pakatan with 82 MPs (even with Anwar winning) take over rule of the federal government currently held by the BN with 140 MPs?

… unless there will be nasty non-democrat naughty nefarious nonsense – the example of reformasi that Anwar propagates with shameless impunity to the adulation of his cultists, and regrettably now bought by some DAP MPs.

Sunday's it's not true ... (3)

It's not true that ...

(1) Malaysians are the most knowledgeable people on the subject of DNA ...

(2) ... and sodomy

(3) ... and statutory declarations

(4) Malaysian DPMs are guilty until proven innocent ...

(5) ... as DPM Najib is in the Altantuyaa murder allegations

(6) ... as former DPM Anwar is in the sodomy allegations

(7) ... as former DPM Gaafar Baba was for having only a Standard 6 education, unlike someone who overthrew him

(8) ... as former DPM Musa Hitam was for not rejecting the Double-M leadership label, when he should have known that a mountain may have only one tiger

(9) ... as former DPM Dr Ismail was for passing away without Tun Razak's permission

(10) ... as former DPM Tun Razak was for May 13

(11) the reformasi movement is exempt from democratic principles or due processes or tolerance

(12) the Lina Joy Brigade has 'taken the road to ...' Mecca?

(13) ... led by Charles Santiago?

(14) PAS has been involved in the reformasi katak-isation program - as perceived from reading the Malaysiakini news article Saiful blogs about overseas trips

(15) Inul Daratitsta has put on a blonde wig to join up with the Pussycat Dolls - see Malaysiakini report Pussycat Dolls to steam up stage at MTV Asia Awards on the yummy meows at Genting

Permatang Pauh - simplified mathematics

Anwar Ibrahim may have the threat of arrest hanging over his head but Malaysiakini informed us yesterday of Anwar to kick off by-election campaign on Sunday.

Originally Anwar made a virtually 100% commitment towards standing in Kulim (the legality of the PKR candidate as its parliamentary representative is to be decided by a court case soon, which may rule a re-election or by-election).

Earlier in his man man lai speech in Bandar Tun Razak he had also teased the crowd that he wanted to stand there. His PKR man, Khalid Ibrahim, could give way to his parliamentary ambition, but then, he must have assessed that BTR was too dangerous for his parliamentary future to be decided by the voters there who could have sobered up after nearly half a year since the anti-BN tsunamic wave.

Then Malaysiakini reported in Cops wrap up sodomy probe, up to AG to act, referring to the investigation in which Anwar had been accused of being the perpetrator by the alleged sodomised victim. That could have tossed the dice for him!

On Thursday I posted Permatang Pauh - Anwar Ibrahim's strategy against arrest? in which I suggested that the Malaysiakini article He may be arrested 'in next 48 hours' could be:

… the reason for Anwar’s abrupt decision to contest Permatang Pauh by getting his wife, Dr Wan Azizah, to resign, which officially she already has, rather abruptly too.

Anwar Ibrahim is a master of such brinksmanship manoeuvres. By putting himself as a candidate for a federal parliamentary by-election just before his possible arrest, he is ratcheting up the political stakes as well as his international profile.

PM AAB will be more embarrassed by the action of arresting a parliamentary candidate for a by-election than just a political party advisor.

My perception of Anwar seeking ‘sanctuary’ in a parliamentary candidature has been agreed to by sweetie Joceline Tan of Star Online today in her article Who is going to take on Anwar?, where she wrote:

Anwar’s bid to return to his old homeground was a strategic and pre-emptive move against what he saw as his imminent arrest. He has studied well Sun Tze’s Art of War and, as even his Umno opponents admitted, he has dictated the agenda.

True enough, Malaysiakini reported in PM: No one will stop him from running, a clear sign that AAB was reacting defensively though defiantly when he was quoted by Malaysiakini as stating:

The premier said due process of the country's laws would not discontinue when an individual wanted to contest in an election, adding that there had been no such precedent.

He said both the due process of the laws and the by-election would go on in accordance with their respective processes and could not blend in any way.

He also said that the due process of the laws did not ignore the right of a complainant to seek justice in a court of law, provided there was a case.

But let’s leave that aside. As Najib admitted in a Malaysiakini report that Permatang Pauh tough for BN, Anwar Ibrahim is predicted to roam home with a comfy majority.

Malaysiakini chart

Let’s look at above chart. In 2008 his wife Dr Azizah won 64% of the votes in Permatang Pauh, with a majority of over 13,000, where the total voters’ turnout amounted to just over 47,000.

Compare this to 2004 where she scrapped through with just a 590 votes majority. The total voters’ turnout then approximated 42,000.

In simplified assumptions, Dr Wan Azizah must have, in the 2008 election, scooped all 5,000 new voters as well as chipped away almost 4200 votes from Dr Pirdaus’ 2004 supporters

We may assume that the 5,000 new voters would be pro Pakatan as most young ones are. These 5,000 would undoubtedly remain loyal to PKR and vote in Anwar Ibrahim in the coming by-election.

According to Malaysiakini report of the analysis of the recent general election, the swing was a humongous 35% by Indians, 30% by Chinese and only 5% by Malays.

The ethnic compositions of registered voters in Permatang Pauh are (and assuming the voters turnout for the coming by-election will be the same as in March 2008, and uniform for all ethnic groups - using rounded figures):

70% Malays = total 32,900
24% Chinese = 11280
6% Indians = 2820

I am going to make some simplified guestimates to see where the swing of 4200 of Dr Pirdaus (or UMNO) supporters had been from.

Let’s say the traditional voting pattern for Permatang Pauh’s PKR versus BN-UMNO prior to 2008 had been respectively:

Malays 50-50% = 16450 votes for BN-UMNO
Chinese 25-75% = 8460 votes for BN-UMNO
Indians 0-100% = 2820 votes for BN-UMNO

Applying the 5%:30%:35% swing, these would translate into 822:2538:987 = 4347 which is pretty close to the loss of 4200 by Dr Pirdaus.

Again, for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume registered voters remain at 47,000, which means a simple majority to win is 23,501 votes.

Anwar will enjoy as a very minimum the following votes:

21737 core votes (based on 2004 figures for Dr Wan)
5000 new votes (the young ones of 2008 – generally pro PKR)

… making a winning total of 26737, even if the tsunamic swing were to pendulum back (which we know won’t be that drastic).

Allowing for some swing backs by the Chinese, Anwar Ibrahim will win, perhaps with a slightly reduced majority, say 28,900 total votes with a majority of over 10800 (as compared to Dr Wan’s 30,000 with a majority of 13,000)

… unless UMNO can persuade the voters to swing to an extent of around 5500 votes

I think the (Hindraf-ised) Indians will remain behind PKR or Pakatan, unless UMNO plays on the Anwar’s ‘temple bell’ issue.

Anwar's notorious 'temple bell' incident happened at Kampong Rawa, Penang. The story goes that on 27 March 1998, Muslims praying in a mosque adjacent to the Sri Raja Raja Madurai Veeran temple were pissed off by the loud temple bells during their Friday prayers.

Some ugly scenes occurred where hundreds of Hindus and Muslims clashed just because of the temple bells. From that initial clash, other Hindu temples and Muslim mosques were attacked, with 4 people hurt and nearly 200 rioters arrested.

Apparently, Anwar (then DPM) had threatened the Hindus to accept whatever he said or (the oft-quoted ultimatum) no temple bells would be sounded in Penang.

A couple of months ago, Anwar gave a totally version of what he had actually said, though my Penang (Indian) larng said 'Pundee Poorah' to Anwar's new 'outside-UMNO-and-no-longer-DPM' story.

I am not sure how the Indian voters in Permatang Pauh will remember or even bother to remember that 'old-UMNO-Anwar' incident, but they make up a hefty 2800 votes!

I am also speculating that the Chinese swing of 30% in March 2008, constituting the greatest loss of 2500 plus votes for UMNO (outside of the new voters) may, at most, be halved = 1250 votes back to BN.

I don’t think UMNO will benefit from playing on Anwar’s anti-Chinese Islamist background when he was an UMNO minister, as UMNO itself has been pretty terrible in these regards, especially last year – so for the Chinese voters, it'll be a case of ‘six of one, half a dozen of the other’!

Now, the Malays!

UMNO may play heavily on Anwar's refusal to take an oath on the Quran to deny he sodomised Saiful.

Undoubtedly Anwar will counter by saying that he has left it in the most capable hands of the syariah courts.

Look, if DAP’s Charles Santiago and the Lina Joy brigade have been conspicuous by their deafening silence on the legal impossibility of Saiful ever getting 4 male witnesses, do you think the Malays in Permatang Pauh will even bother to raise this?

Besides, the imams of PAS will rally around Anwar, giving all sorts of Islamic legal reasons or excuses why he needn't.

Then of course, UMNO may play the ketuanan Melayu card by telling the Malays that Anwar has abandoned the NEP … but f* themselves in the eyes of the Chinese and Indian voters ;-)

… so on so forth

Just a kaytee’s Saturday afternoon simplified take on Permatang Pauh’s coming campaign.