SINGAMARAJA |
| Posted: 19 Apr 2011 10:26 AM PDT MCA president Chua Soi Lek today defended his statements calling for SUPP to reject posts in the Sarawak cabinet, saying he would do the same should they fare badly in the next general election. "Should the MCA suffer the same fate, as in the 2008 polls, in the next general election, the MCA central committee will then have to deliberate on its position in the federal and state government," he said in a statement.  Chua (left) was responding to DAP's criticism that the MCA president was hypocritical for making the call to SUPP over the latter's dismal showing at last week's state election.DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng and party veteran Lim Kit Siang had pointed out that although MCA and Gerakan both fared just as miserably in the 2008 general election, their members had still accepted senate and cabinet posts. The MCA president sidestepped the criticism saying he was not president at the time. "As regards to the decision of the MCA to take up government posts after the 2008 general election despite the setback suffered by the MCA, I wish to reiterate that it was not my call. I was then not the party president," said Chua. "Similarly, I am not in a position to comment on the position of Perak exco member Mah Hang Soon. I cannot comment on a decision that has been decided by my predecessor," he added.  MCA only managed to get one state seat in Perak in the 2008 elections.While returning barbs with his arch rival DAP over who was legitimately the racist party, Chua also maintained his stand on SUPP. "...SUPP should respect the views of the Chinese community and not be a part of the Sarawak state government. If SUPP wishes to take up any state government positions, it should be represented by its Dayak ADUN in the state government," he said. Kok: MCA the real racists Meanwhile DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok lashed out at MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai for dismissing DAP's election results as a result of "racial politics". "In Batu Kawah, DAP received substantial votes from the Malay-Melanau community," said Kok, who is also Selangor senior exco.  |
| Posted: 19 Apr 2011 10:05 AM PDT Building Malaysia in LondonIS the Federal Constitution secular or Islamic? Are the prime minister's New Economic Model and Government Transformation Programme all they are cracked up to be? And what about corruption in Malaysia? Big questions, these, with discussions amongst politicians often ending up bitter, polemical and unyielding. Not to mention the name-calling, character assassinations and government muzzling of critical individuals and organisations.  PAN logo (all pics courtesy of UKEC) Therefore, it was with great curiosity and slight apprehension that I accepted an invitation to speak at the United Kingdom and Eire Council of Malaysian Students (UKEC)'s Projek Amanat Negara (PAN). Held in London, PAN aims to "spur intellectual discourse amongst Malaysian youth studying in the United Kingdom and Ireland". Thus, on 9 Apr 2011, I walked into the halls of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Green Park at 8am to be greeted by an army of bright-faced Malaysian students in business suits. How would the students fare when discussing the "big issues" of our nation? I must confess that during my own undergraduate days in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1990s, it was, shall we say, difficult to drag me to any conference of Malaysian students. Not so with PAN. PAN (and UKEC) confirmed that my excitement and optimism about Malaysia and Malaysians are justified, albeit with a need for more empirical confirmation. Let me explain. Pan-Malaysian solidarity  Dzulkefly Ahmad First of all, how could I not love a group of bubbly young Malaysian students who took such pains to organise a day-long conference as their commitment to nation-building? And this was not some Biro Tatanegara-type camp. This was a conference explicitly discussing whether the Federal Constitution is secular or Islamic, where the country's economy is headed, and what to expect in the next general election. And UKEC invited the likes of PAS's Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, former Kedah Menteri Besar and Umno vice president Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, and human rights activist Edmund Bon of LoyarBurok and MyConstitution fame to share their candid views. Sure, these discussions did get tense, not least because of the presence of a few older, critical Malaysian migrants to London who locked horns with a few speakers. But my commentary is not concerned with them. What I found remarkable throughout this event was how younger Malaysians, students all, listened calmly to all the ideas being discussed, and then asked pointed and critical questions of their own.  Edmund Bon (left) with Tai Zee How And for Malaysians who advocate an inclusive Malaysia that embraces diversity, the UKEC, which represents over 6,500 Malaysian students, provides an encouraging model of participation and leadership. The names of UKEC's office bearers embody the functioning diversity of the group — the chairperson is a Farquar Haqqani, his deputy is a Tai Zee How, one of their vice-presidents is a Roshan Mark Singh Sidhu, and the editor of their magazine is a Natasha Su Sivarajah. Aren't these wonderfully Malaysian names? Besides, I could also detect ideological diversity among the students there, which is noteworthy. To check whether this was diversity imposed from the top down, I tried to hang out in the hallways and listen to conversations in between sessions. I also made it a point to lepak with the student organisers after the conference. The young men and women I hung out with were not only comfortable being Malaysian, with the delicious elasticity and ambiguity that the concept entails, but they were also hilarious. They had a sense of humour, and if we want to see sustainable change in Malaysia, I believe we also need to be able to laugh with each other good-naturedly. Broken sociological record Why am I so excited about a bunch of urban, elite young Malaysians, you might ask? That's a valid question – most of the current UKEC bunch consists of bright young things who are studying under impressive state and corporate scholarships. How representative are they of general trends in Malaysian society? But can we define what "representative" means? Or you might ask, will they not eventually get co-opted by The System? My question is: can we define "co-optation" and "The System"?  Hindu temple (© Lainie Yeoh) See, the issues of such sombre and current importance in Malaysia have been there for at least the past four decades. Back in 1976, social scientist Daniel Regan was already hinting, through empirical research, that race and religion would only become more politicised in post-independence Malaysia. Anthropologist Prof (Emeritus) Judith Nagata corroborated Regan's observations in 1980, observing for instance that Hindu temples were being attacked in West Malaysia in the late 1970s by advocates of a certain brand of Islamism. So, the tensions we are seeing in Malaysia now with regard to authoritarian government and racial and religious tensions are not exactly new. What is arguably new is the emergence of voluntary organisations composed of a young and diverse assembly of Malaysians, such as UKEC. As Regan observed in 1976, "Mixed or integrated societies [in Malaysia] are scarce, and those that exist are less stable than those formed along strict religio-ethnic lines." This is one of the reasons why he was not optimistic that trans-religious and trans-ethnic solidarities could organically emerge in Malaysian society. Thirty-five years on, I wonder if I have caught a glimmer of exactly the kind of trans-religious and trans-ethnic relationships that eluded Regan's findings. Measured optimism Of course, I admit that this is hardly evidence of a revolution in the making. Besides, there are issues that UKEC needs to work out as well. For example, how is it going to grow women leaders within its ranks, and how is it going to ensure gender balance among its panel speakers in the future? How is it going to create connections with other Malaysian students back in Malaysia or in other countries? However, based not only on PAN as it was officially presented and documented, but also on the sorts of informal interactions and relationships I observed, I have faith.  PAN's organising committee My faith does not rest on UKEC alone — let's not endow it with messianic and millenialist powers it does not and should not have. What I mean to say is I've seen these dynamics before among other configurations of younger Malaysians. However, my examples must remain merely anecdotal for now. Furthermore, some of us who have observed these dynamics where diversity was celebrated, might have thought they were one-off or inconsequential. And who could blame us for thinking these are isolated and inconsequential moments when the news headlines and political blog posts are often so depressing and bitter? Here's the thing, though: depressing news is important. It forces us to reckon with the journey Malaysia needs to take to become a truly just and democratic society. But if we fixate only on the depressing and allow ourselves to become embittered, we miss out on other interesting and hopeful developments that, frankly, are not headline material, such as UKEC's PAN event. These are no less important developments, because they tell us that the nation can be built and continues getting built regardless of an environment of enduringly rubbish  |
| Why don't the police investigate the matther ? Posted: 19 Apr 2011 10:00 AM PDT
The events and personalities featured here are purely fictional and any resemblance to person or persons dead, alive, or about to die, is purely coincidental. Why don't the police investigate the matter? A police report has already been made. What is holding them back? Investigate lah! If this involved someone from the opposition, they would have immediately investigated the matter. And they would have needed only one week to complete the investigation and then would have taken action straight away. The police are full of bullshit. Cannot be trusted. But they just announced this morning that they are launching an investigation. Aiyah, don't trust them lah! They will not really investigate the matter. They are just main wayang because a police report has been made. I bet you the investigation will come to nothing and they will announce that no crime has been committed. If this involved someone from the opposition, they would say there is enough evidence to take action. Now they will say there is no evidence of any crime having been committed. The police are full of bullshit. Cannot be trusted. Aiyah, the only reason why DAP make a big issue out of this is because Teoh Beng Hock is Chinese and an opposition man. If he were Malay or not an opposition man you think DAP cares? They would not bother about the death. DAP is a racist and opportunist party. They are just politicising the issue, playing up the Chinese sentiments. Not sincere lah! Ini semua issue Cina. Bullshit lah these DAP people. Aiyah, the only reason why DAP make a big issue out of this is because Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed is Malay so they want to show that the party is multi-racial and also fights for the Malays. They want to make it seem like DAP is fighting for justice and not only for the Chinese. This is their opportunity to play up Sarbani's death. Now they can say even Malays who are killed in MACC's office gets DAP's attention. This is just politics lah! DAP is not really sincere about fighting for Malays. They just want to exploit Sarbani's death for political gain. Bullshit lah these DAP people. Why they bar Malaysiakini from covering the press conference? Say got freedom of speech in Malaysia. Where got freedom of speech? Talk only lah! When Malaysiakini wants to cover the press conference they will not allow. They are actually scared that Malaysiakini will ask the Minister tough questions that he cannot answer. They got something to hide. That's why they are scared of letting Malaysiakini cover the press conference. They know that if Malaysiakini asks sensitive questions they cannot reply. Reply also die, don't reply also die. So better just bar Malaysiakini from the press conference. Hah! No respect for freedom of the media. All bullshit one! Just because Malaysiakini is opposition media they bully them. Why talk to TV3? TV3 is government-owned media. TV3 cannot be trusted. They will surely spin the story the wrong way. Next time, just boycott TV3. Don't talk to them. If they want to talk to you or want to interview you just tell them to go to hell. TV3 should be banned from all opposition events. If not they will distort the news. Bastards! Only stupid people talk to TV3. Why don't Anwar contest for the party post? What bullshit is the? Ketua Umum konon. Podah! If you want to become the party leader then contest lah. Why so scared of contesting? Defacto leader is bullshit. More like illegitimate leader. Who voted for him? No one. Want to become the party leader then contest lah! All bullshit! Why challenge Anwar for the party leadership? Why so impatient? Wait lah a few years. Anwar just took over. Pakatan has not even won the elections yet. If you contest now it will create a split in the party. That will jeopardise Pakatan's chances for the next election. I think he is a Trojan horse. He is paid by Umno to cause trouble in the party. The party should kick him out. People like this are not welcome in the party. I guarantee you he has been bought off. Must have been paid a few million.  |
"So deeply entrenched is ... Liow Tiong Lai in Barisan Nasional's (BN) racial rhetoric that he aped Dr Mahathir in blaming the resounding defeat of SUPP leaders in the recent Sarawak state elections upon racial politics by DAP," said Kok (left) in a statement.
"Furthermore, many of the seats won by DAP in the Sarawak state election could not have been won on Chinese votes alone, particularly Kidurong, Meradong, and Dudong. In Meradong for example, DAP received a simple majority of 51 perecnt of the Iban votes. 
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