(Sin Chew Daily) I feel sorry for Tan Sri Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen as his well-intended suggestion has been badly criticised.

He is an old-fashioned politician and he could not fit into today's political phenomenon. Many party members of the older generation have been addicted to money politics while the young ones learn from the elders and certainly, they will outperform their teachers.

Look at the crowd which demonstrated in front of the Putra World Trade Centre. They protested against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) arrest of Umno members for fraud in the party election. They also protested against Tengku Ahmad's suggestion.

For them, frauds and corruption for power and money are justified. Right and wrong could be reversed and there is no difference between black and white.

They are young and they are having such thoughts, I believe that they are going to bring a greater national disaster when they grow older.

Isn't Tengku Ahmad's suggestion to abolish Umno's main wings, including Puteri Umno, Putera Umno, Umno Youth and Wanita Umno reasonable?

Many good children have been thrown into a huge dye vat, could they keep being themselves and not being affected?

Do the British Conservative Party and Labour Party have a youth wing? Do the American Republican Party and Democratic Party need a bureau for young women? Can you find a bureau for young men in the Australian Labor Party and Liberal Party?

In these countries, young people may concerned about or participate in the nation's politics. But they could not be made use by politics and at the same time, they are not allowed to use political parties as a platform for promotion.

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China used to have these bureaus to attract young ones as they needed a huge number of enthusiastic members to start a revolution. They even wanted to set up a children bureau if they could, so they could have early brainwashing.

Radical political parties would make use of young people while speculative young people would as well make use of these political parties. Together, they turned the country upside down. I believe everyone would know what are the consequences.

Umno followed the mode of revolutionary parties to set up Umno Youth so that it could mobilise all available manpower to advocate Malay Nationalism and fight against colonialism. And other parties, including MCA, MIC, Pas, Gerakan, DAP and even PKR just followed the suit. These young people are supported by their parties and by calling themselves the racial pioneers, they dared to voice out many of the most radical and extreme remarks.

The revolutionary era is over, do we still need young people to make trouble? Today, the party with the most young members gets the least support from young people as the majority of young people no longer accept such concept.

Schools, instead of political parties are the paradise for children. They should concentrate in studies and when they reach their puberty, just go and date; those who wish to be a big star could take part in singing contests and those who are fetish, just hug their Hello Kitty. (By TAY TIAN YAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)

These two PKR men are now missing. They have been missing since the last four days and no one knows where they are. But they are not really missing as such. They are safely in the hands of Umno. And Umno wants them to agree to a deal.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Buy them, or kill them! That is the theme for the Year of the Ox. And that is the theme Umno lives by. And if you live by the sword, so will it be that way you die, by the sword. Make no bones about it. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

I remember the story told to me 20 years ago by an Umno stalwart. A certain one-time Menteri Besar of a certain state was on his deathbed. Friends and relatives read his last rites by his bedside, basically reading the Surah Yassin for he who is about to die.

But he would not die. He lingered on and on, not wanting to die and yet barely alive. His mouth would move when spoon-fed with soup. Yes, he who lived a life of makan suap (corruption) was being makan suap (spoon-fed) the last days of his life here on earth.

It soon became very tiring. Here was a man supposed to die whom they were reading his last rites. But he would not go away. He stayed on, neither alive nor dead. How to make him leave?

They called in a religious man, a man most respected by the Muslim community. The religious man told the family to open the safe and take out some of the millions stashed away in it. This was no time for discussion or debate. They did as they were told.

The religious man took out handfuls of cash from the safe and stuffed them into a pillowcase. The pillowcase, now full and bursting at its seams, was handed to the man who would not die, the man lying on his deathbed the last one week, he who was once the all-powerful and most corrupted Menteri Besar of this extremely rich state, the frail and very sick man who was not alive yet would not die.

The once very powerful and extremely rich man hugged his pillowcase stuffed with money, broke into a smile, gave a deep sigh, and closed his eyes and breathed his last breath. He was now gone from this world and entered the next.

Yes, this one-time Menteri Besar lived for money. He would only die with his money gripped tightly in his arms. He lived by the sword. He died by the sword. Money was his ‘God’. From money he came, to money he returned. Not dust to dust and ashes to ashes, but cash to cash. And his heaven was the printing press where they print money. That is where he resides in his ‘next world’.

Umno is not a political party. No doubt that is what it once was. But, that, it no longer is. Umno is now a trading house. It is a business. It is the new-age East India Company of Malaya or the Noble House of Hong Kong. It is what the old British companies used to do 200 years ago in this region.

The old Colonial masters used to buy and sell power. And to buy and sell power you need to buy and sell people. And people who could not be bought and sold would be incarcerated or killed. That is the Colonial game. That is the way the British played the power game. But the British are no longer around. They are no longer Malaya’s Colonial masters. We have a new Colonial master. And that Colonial master is called Umno.

I too was offered a deal. Work for the incoming regime, those who will be the new Colonial masters in March 2009, and become filthy rich. To resist is futile. Power can’t be resisted. To resist would mean to incur the wrath of the new masters who will be so in March 2009.

The alternative would be imprisonment. The two choices are simple: work for the powers-that-be and become rich or go to jail. I chose jail. So, two weeks later, on 12 September 2008, they came to my house and sent me to the Kamunting Detention Centre.

But I had good lawyers. And my lawyers did something never before done in the almost 50 years history of the Internal Security Act. They managed to convince the court that my detention was illegal and that I should not be in Kamunting but instead should be sent home. And the judge in the Shah Alam High Court agreed. So he sent me home.

The government is now appealing the Shah Alam High Court decision. They want the Federal Court in Putrajaya to declare that the Shah Alam High Court judge erred and that I should not have been released. This is the final stage of my fight. If they win, I get sent back to Kamunting. There is no further recourse. There is no higher court for me to continue my fight. The Federal Court is the last stop. It is the court of the last resort. I either remain free or I get detained indefinitely.

I asked for seven judges -- at the very least, five. The Federal Court has refused my application. My fate now lies in the hands of only three judges. Seven judges would have been safer. Five would not have been too bad. With only three judges my chances are slimmer. And three men are going to decide whether I continue sleeping in my comfortable bedroom the next few years, until the day I die, or I get to spend my last days in a hellhole.

I could have taken the money. I could have enjoyed the remaining years of my life in comfort. Now, I face the risk of spending my final days as the life of a detainee. But that is how Umno works. They try to buy you. And if they can’t buy you, they kill you. And if killing is not an option, they at least incarcerate you. That is the only game they know how to play.

When Pakatan Rakyat formed the Perak and Selangor state governments soon after 8 March 2008, Umno quickly offered PAS a deal. If PAS was prepared to form a coalition with Umno in Perak and Selangor, they agreed to allow PAS to become the Menteri Besar of these two states. As a sweetener, Umno also agreed that the Islamic law of Hudud be implemented in Perak and Selangor. Umno will give PAS its Hudud that it seeks.

It was a sweet deal. Not only will PAS be running Perak and Selangor and will hold the post of the Chief Operation Officers of these two states, but PAS will also realise its dream of seeing Hudud as the law of the land where it had failed in Kelantan 20 years ago and Terengganu ten years ago.

Sweet deal as it may be, PAS said no. Realising its dream and being in charge is one thing, but they also have to consider their loyalty to their partners, PKR and DAP. They will not betray their partners in Pakatan Rakyat for any amount of money. So PAS said no.

Umno then worked on DAP since PAS was no longer a possibility. The offer was RM10 million for each DAP man who was prepared to cross over. The DAP men and women all declined the extremely attractive offer. RM10 million is a nice figure. That kind of money will go a long way. But there is more to life than money. And no DAP man and woman took the offer.

Okay, buying Perak and Selangor State Assemblymen and women from Pakatan Rakyat is not possible. No one is for sale. So, if you can’t buy them, then kill them. And Umno got a certain MIC man who married his boss’s wife after sleeping with her whenever the boss was out of town to do what he is most good at. They wanted PKR men fixed up.

That was easy. He is an expert at fixing up people. He fixed up his boss. He fixed up his boss’s wife who is now his wife. He can fix up PKR men easily enough. He asked to meet two PKR men. He then arranged for his driver to carry a bagful of money to the appointed meeting place with instructions to drop the bag under the table unseen and unnoticed. He did just as he was told.

No sooner had the bagful of money hit the ground when the Anti-Corruption Agency officers rushed in, picked up the bag, and arrested the two PKR men on allegations of corruption. They did not know what hit them. They did not even realise the bagful of money under the table.

These two PKR men are now missing. They have been missing since the last four days and no one knows where they are. But they are not really missing as such. They are safely in the hands of Umno. And Umno wants them to agree to a deal. Accept RM10 million each and cross over to Umno or else go to jail on corruption charges -- the same deal they offered me and which I declined and which resulted in my detention under the Internal Security Act on 12 September 2008.

The day the two PKR men were picked up and kept under ‘protective custody’, one Umno State Assemblyman crossed over to PKR. That spoilt the whole plan. They needed just two PKR State Assemblymen to bring down the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Perak. Now, with their own Umno man crossing over to PKR, two will no longer be possible. They now need three.

They offered the ex-Umno, now-PKR State Assemblyman the post of Menteri Besar. If he crosses back to Umno and Barisan Nasional grabs the state, he will be made the new Menteri Besar. They need him back or else it would be pointless to blackmail the two PKR State Assemblymen now facing the prospects of jail. Even if they took the RM10 million in exchange for jail, Umno would still not be the government in Perak. They are still one State Assemblyman short.

What irony. Even as they kidnap two PKR State Assemblymen and put a sword at their throats, an Umno State Assemblyman crosses over to thwart their plan. They ‘gently persuade’ the ex-Umno man in their efforts to get him to cross back to Umno. “Altantuya was killed and Bala has disappeared,’ they told him. They are ‘worried’ something may also happen to him if he does not cross back to Umno.

Yes, Umno is in the power business. They buy and sell power. They also buy and sell people in their effort to attain or maintain power. But even as they hatch their evil plots, their own people cross over to the other side. And that caught them with their pants down. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. And that is what happened to Umno in Perak.

Meanwhile, as they try their best to get back Perak through foul means, in other places they run the risk of losing power. In Negeri Sembilan, all Pakatan Rakyat needs are three state seats to oust Barisan Nasional from the state. Umno is watching that state closely lest three Barisan Nasional State Assemblymen cross over to Pakatan Rakyat to help them form the new Negeri Sembilan state government. And Negeri Sembilan is Khairy Jamaluddin’s state, the state he hopes he will one day become Menteri Besar of before he journeys to Putrajaya to take the seat as Prime Minister of Malaysia some time after 2020.

But Khairy no longer has time to worry about Negeri Sembilan. Negeri Sembilan is something in the future. Negeri Sembilan can wait. Khairy has more immediate problems to worry about.

Khairy is no longer in the lead for Umno Youth Leader. Khir Toyo is now in the lead. Of course, it has cost Khir Toyo a colossal amount of money. He has thus far spent hundreds of millions to ensure that he is the hot favourite for Umno Youth Leader. But it is money well spent, as far as he is concerned. After all, it is not his money. It is not money he made pulling out teeth as a dentist. It is money he stole all those years he was the Menteri Besar of Selangor.

Word is out that in April 2009, as soon as Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hands the Prime Ministership to Najib Tun Razak, Khairy will be dead and buried. And Khairy too knows this. But what can he do? He is going to die a day earlier to Pak Lah’s death. He will not be attending Pak Lah’s funeral. Pak Lah will be attending his. This, Najib will see to it.

In the recent Umno Supreme Council meeting, an anti-Pak Lah demonstration was organised in front of the Umno headquarters in the PWTC. It was made to appear like it was organised by NGOs. But the hidden hand of Najib was at work.

Najib suspects that Pak Lah might not hand over the chair to him in March 2009 after all. And the message he wants to send Pak Lah is that he must let go in March and not a day beyond that. So the anti-Pak Lah demonstration was organised to drive this point home.

Many of Pak Lah’s right-hand men are now facing corruption charges. According to the Umno Disciplinary Board, there are 900 cases of ‘money politics’ -- meaning corruption. But they are pursuing only a handful. And these ‘handfuls’ are those aligned to Pak Lah.

They want Pak Lah’s men all out of action before March 2009. Then, come March 2009, Pak Lah will be all alone and isolated. Not only his key men, even Khairy Jamaluddin must be brought down. That would be the only way to ensure that Pak Lah will really go in March 2009 as planned. One Umno man detained for ‘corruption’ alleges that they tortured him and forced him to implicate Khairy as the man behind the move to buy votes.

So, people like Norza Zakaria, Ali Rustam, Azeez Rahman, and the man with two Muhammads in his name, all have their hands full, as does Khairy. They are all fighting their own little battles to stay out of jail. They have no time to worry about Pak Lah. Their own survival is at stake. They are now focused on saving their own necks, leaving Pak Lah to sort out his own problems.

Yes, Umno moves with such brutality. Become rich or go to jail. Retire in comfort or behind the high walls of prisons and detention centres. That is the modus operandi for Umno. They take no prisoners. They kill on the battlefield. It worked for the British Colonialists 200 years ago. It still works for Umno today. But those who live by the sword die by the sword. And Umno is going to discover this soon the hard way.

Meanwhile, watch as those who once walked in the corridors of power fall, one by one. There will be many bodies. You will not see any wounded. It is either you are with us or you are dead meat. There is nothing in between. Who are going to become the victors and who will be those vanquished? No one knows at this stage. But Pak Lah might still stay on beyond March 2009. He has no choice. With the stakes too high and with the ‘winner takes all and loser losses all’ game that Umno is playing, there can only be one left standing at the end of the match. - Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Datuk Ahmad Ismail, the man who put race relations on a knife’s edge with his comments about Chinese in Malaysia in August last year, will remain a free man — for the time being.

The police have wrapped up investigations into a sedition charge against him but thanks to the intervention of senior party leaders, the veteran Penang Umno politician is not likely to see the inside of the courtroom anytime soon.

Umno sources told The Malaysian Insider that several delegations of party officials from Penang made representations to the Umno leadership on behalf of Ahmad over the past week, arguing that he has already paid a severe price for calling Chinese “immigrants’’ and “squatters’’ during a political rally in the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election.

Ahmad was suspended from holding any positions in Umno for three years by the party’s supreme council. His supporters also pointed out that charging him in court would merely re-ignite debate on race and religious issues and further complicate relations between component parties in Barisan Nasional.

Party officials were also concerned on the impact action against Ahmad could have on the fluid political situation in Umno.

“There is still a concern that some state assemblymen and MPs may be considering jumping over to the opposition. Ahmad Ismail is a popular figure in Umno. He may be vilified outside the party but among party members, there is a great deal of respect for standing up for Malay rights,” said a party official.

Earlier this week, The Malaysian Insider reported that the police had completed their probe into the Umno warlord and that the Attorney-General’s Chambers was on the cusp of ordering that the politician be charged with sedition.

News of this impending action filtered to the party rank and file in Penang and they made a beeline to Putrajaya to plead and cajole on behalf of Ahmad. - The Malaysian Insider

By Zaid Ibrahim

1. The call by Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, Chairman of The Disciplinary Tribunal, for UMNO to disband its youth, wanita and puteri wings, as part of the measures to curb corruption, has attracted much flack from the party’s senior leaders including Dato Najib Razak. Instead of brushing aside the suggestion, as is the standard response of the party when confronted with something new, they should reflect and try to understand what Tengku Din was trying to tell them. Tengku Din was exasperated with the extent of the corruption permeating the party at all levels.

He was saying that the Disciplinary Tribunal alone could no longer cope with the practice and culture of corruption within the party. As a loyal party man he was trying to politely tell the party leaders that UMNO could no longer be salvaged under the present structure, and under the present crop of leaders I might add.

2. What makes it so difficult for the Tribunal to effectively carry out its functions is the selective prosecution it must practice in the discharge of its duties. Actions can only be taken if required or useful to certain top leaders. The Tribunal lacks clear mandate from the party management in dealing with money politics, UMNO’s euphemism for corrupt practice. When I was suspended for allegedly being involved in money politics, I knew that Tengku Din, although Chairman, was not involved in making the decision. Someone else in the management wanted me out. So an UMNO member will be subject to investigation and harassment if he does not belong to the right camp. Many others will escape with impunity and they can bribe the delegates as much as they want and not get the attention of the Tribunal. So even Tengku Din now realises the futility of having the Disciplinary Tribunal to deal with corrupt practice. I therefore urge Tengku Din to retire and resign from the Tribunal.

3. UMNO leaders who are critical of Tengku Din should also be mindful that they are not supposed to criticise him or the Tribunal. Look what happened to me for criticising the Tribunal and for not wanting to apologise when asked. I got suspended because they said I violated party ethics. UMNO got ethics? Well that’s the true story. So they same fate will fall on Dato Najib and his friends in the Supreme Council. They too may get suspended if they continue to criticise the Disciplinary tribunal or its Chairman.This is of course wishful thinking, as there are rules in UMNO that apply to some but not to others.

Jika demonstrasi besar membantah dasar pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris Mac ini masih gagal menarik perhatian kerajaan, pilihanraya umum akan datang boleh dijadikan penentuan akhirnya, kata seorang tokoh sasterawan.

"Jika masih gagal, ia perlu diterjemahkan dalam pilihanraya, sebagai kuasa yang terakhir.

"Gunalah undi secara bijaksana," kata Sasterawan Negara, Datuk A Samad Said kepada Malaysiakini hari ini.

Beliau diminta mengulas tindakan lanjut yang perlu diambil sekiranya perhimpunan raksasa 100,000 rakyat – ala Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih) – anjuran Gabungan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP) masih tidak dihiraukan kerajaan.

GMP yang dipengerusikan bekas ketua pengarah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Datuk Dr Hassan Ahmad merancang mengadakan perhimpunan itu pada 7 Mac bagi menyerahkan memorandum kepada Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-pertuan Agong bagi memohon campur tangan baginda berhubung isu itu.

Sebuah lagi perkumpulan aktivis bahasa Gabungan Penulis Nasional (Gapena) yang dianggotai 24 persatuan penulis di seluruh negara turut mengancam mengadakan "Perarakan Keranda" – dinamakan Keranda 152 – bagi tujuan yang sama, dijadual pertengahan bulan depan.

Gapena juga tetap dengan pendiriannya mengheret kerajaan ke mahkamah berhubung pelaksanaan dasar itu sejak tujuh tahun lalu yang didakwanya melanggar Perkara 152, Perlembagaan Persekutuan – yang menggariskan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa kebangsaan.

Berhubung rancangan GMP berhimpun besar-besaran, A Samad berkata tindakan generasi muda daripada pelbagai kumpulan bagi tujuan menyatakan bantahan terhadap dasar itu memang wajar.

"Wajar kerana semua sumber lain telah digunakan, tetapi tidak dihiraukan," katanya, yang lebih mesra dipanggil Pak Samad.

Bekas editor kanan Berita Harian dan pengarang pelbagai genre kreatif itu juga menyangkal tanggapan bahawa tindakan berdemonstrasi seperti GMP atau Gapena sebagai "tidak rasional".

Mengulas sama ada aktivis bahasa dan sastera veteran wajar sama-sama turun padang berdemonstrasi, A Samad berkata:

"Orang tua berjuang daripada sisi yang lain. Tetapi tidak bererti tidak berjuang. Sekarang giliran angkatan muda."

Generasi muda sekarang, tambahnya, daripada pelbagai organisasi dan parti politik termasuk Umno mendukung perjuangan bersama itu.

Selasa lalu, A Samad hadir dalam mesyuarat GMP bagi membincangkan siri bantahan terhadap PPSMI di bangunan Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri (SUK) Selangor.

Turut terlibat dalam perbincangan itu beberapa tokoh sastera dan politik, termasuklah Timbalan Presiden PAS Nasharuddin Mat Isa yang menganggotai jawatankuasa induk GMP.

Ditanya sama ada kemunculannya itu boleh menjejaskan imejnya sebagai tokoh sasterawan yang tidak partisan selama ini, A Samad menjelaskan, kehadiran beliau berdasarkan isu, bukan pihak yang mendukung gerakan tersebut.

"Saya tidak boleh terlepas daripada apa yang bergelora (dasar PPSMI)," jelasnya.

"Orang kiri jemput saya pergi (hadir), orang kanan jemput saya pergi."

Esok, kira-kira 500 pencinta bahasa dijangka memenuhi ruang depan kompleks membeli-belah Sogo di Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman membantah pelaksanaan PPSMI.

Beberapa tokoh utama bahasa seperti penyair Dinsman, bekas profesor bahasa Dr Abdullah Hassan dan penulis Ainon Mohd akan turut serta.

Pak Samad diura-urakan akan turut serta buat pertama kali dalam program sebegitu.

Sewaktu ditanya penyertaannya esok, sasterawan kelahiran Singapura itu bagaimanapun masih mahu berteka-teki.

"Awak tengoklah esok," katanya, sambil ketawa kecil.

A Samad menerima gelaran tertinggi dalam dunia kesusasteraan tanah air pada 1986.

Selain itu, beliau yang terkenal dengan novel Salina – mengisahkah keperitan hidup seorang pelacur di Singapura akibat perang – turut dianugerahkan SEA Write Award daripada kerajaan Thailand. - Malaysiakini

Assalamualaikum,
Henry Gurney telah menyebabkan seorang ahli istana sebak kerana memperkenalkan pembinaan kampung baru Cina. Dengan mengambil tanah negara. Sebenarnya isu tersebut adalah satu daripada ujian yang sedang dilalui oleh Menteri Besar Perak ini untuk mematangkan beliau sebagai seorang statesman.

Kita dapat baca duduknya beliau dikerusi menteri Besar tersebut bukanlah kerana kekuatan PAS, tetapi oleh faktor lain. Hakikatnya Allah menghendaki beliau menduduki kerusi tersebut.


Menganugerahkan tanah kepada penduduk kampung baru Cina di negeri Perak telah ditentang oleh pelbgai pihak, kononya membelakang Kanun Tanah Negara. Tetapi beliau terus dengan keputusannya. Menganugerahkan title tanah 999 tahun kelihatan seolah tangan beliau dipulas oleh DAP, tetapi beliau teruskan keputusannya. Kerana beliau ingin memberikan status kekal kepada penerima.


Sara bara dan duka nestapa serta susah payah masyarakat Cina yang dibura dan diherdik British di zaman darurat tidak banyak didokumentasikan dalam penulisan berbahasa Melayu. Seolah orang Melayu sengaja tidak peka dengan nestapa yang telah menimpa masyarakat tersebut. Nizar membela keperitan mereka setelah lebih 60 tahun mereka diazab dan disisih.

Mengapa perlu mereka dibela? sebab mereka adalah warganegara Malaysia. Pemerintahan sebelum ini tidak memberi peruah langsung kepada mereka. Dan kepentingan Orang Melayu langsung tidak terjejas dengan pembelaan ini.


Ada pihak yang menggunakan saluran tertentu untuk membantutkan usaha Nizar menukarkan Pengarah Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak Dato' Haji Jamry Sury. Beliau telah akur, dan dengan penuh santun dan rendah diri merombak semula arahan terdahulu. Peristiwa ini sahaja sebenarnya telah cukup untuk menurunkan beliau dari kerusi menteri besar, walaupun dari segi undang undang arahan awal beliau adalah betul.


Tetapi beliau terus bertahan.


Masuknya Dato' Nasarudin ADUN Bota ke PKR telah membenihkan spekulasi baru. Sama seperti kongelomerat RENONG memakan syarikat ibunya dalam satu maneuver bisnis yang dikenali sebagai reverse takeover, kelicik politik yang ini juga cuba dikaitkan dengan reverse takeover kerusi Menteri Besar Perak.


Saya baca ini tidak akan berlaku. Pertama maneuver ini bukan dalam bisnis. Kedua implikasi politik terlalu besar dan tidak menentu sekiranya ia dilakukan, sedangkan PR, terutama PKR dan PAS sedang menonggang gelombang populariti yang tinggi sekarang. Mengapa perlu rosakkannya?

Maneuver RENONG tidak akan berlaku di sini.


Cuma Nizar masih belum lincah berpolitik high profil. Belum perlu lagi dimasyhurkan sekian ramainya ADUN/MP BN yang akan lompat ke PR.


Nizar perlu belajar hal timing. - Hamirdin

(The Malaysian Insider) It is confirmed. The controversial KLIA East project is off, stillborn at the drawing board because it had become too costly politically for the administration.

But it was not all bad news for Air Asia, the region’s largest budget carrier and the promoter of the idea to build the RM1.6 billion airport in Labu. The carrier managed to extract some concessions from the government, namely that Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) build a new terminal by 2011 and consult Air Asia on the design and other issues pertaining to the operations of the facility.

Several government officials told The Malaysian Insider that MAHB was told to lower charges for the budget carrier, complete the construction on time and make the new terminal an energy efficient complex.

Today’s meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and attended by Air Asia’s Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, officials from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning Unit and MAHB.

When contacted, Fernandes said: “It was a positive meeting and we got a good hearing from everyone.’’ He declined to go into the specifics of the meeting.

Najib called for today’s meeting as a result of the firestorm of criticisms which followed an announcement last month that the government had approved a plan by Air Asia to build a new LCCT in Labu. Critics assailed the government saying that this decision would hurt KLIA’s ambitions of becoming a regional hub. They also argued that if a new facility had to be built, it should be built within KLIA.

Air Asia countered by saying that MAHB was unable to build a new LCCT by 2011 to cater for its growth. It pointed out that MAHB was only able to build a new LCCT by 2014.

The government fearing a political backlash and unwilling to test its popularity in this more challenging political climate began sending out feelers a couple of weeks ago that it was looking for a compromise solution.

It received a helping hand from Sime Darby Berhad, the government-linked company which informed the government that it was only willing to sell a tract of land in Labu to Air Asia and was not providing any financing for the project.

This move threw into doubt whether Air Asia could raise the financing for the RM1.6 billion terminal and the RM700 million connectivity infrastructure.

Government officials, who were briefed about today’s meeting, said that MAHB and Air Asia will have to come back in two weeks with firm plans for the new LCCT.

“The DPM played the role of an honest broker. He did not take sides but wanted to make sure that national interest was served. This could only happen if the new LCCT was built in KLIA but Air Asia’s legitimate interests and concerns were addressed,” a government official told The Malaysian Insider.

It may have been a happy ending for all parties but this episode certainly raised some serious questions over decision-making in the government.

And begs the question on why MAHB and Air Asia could not be forced to the negotiating table earlier.

By Angus Grigg (Australian Financial Review)

SYDNEY, Jan 30 — Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud drives a cream Rolls-Royce, wears a gem the size of a walnut on his ring finger and is said to have once paid US$2 million (RM7 million) for a piano owned by Liberace.

The Chief Minister of Sarawak, like the late American entertainer, is certainly flamboyant and he's been well rewarded for his 28-year rule of the resource-rich province. But his time at the top is coming to an end.

Having celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary last week, the man known as the "White Haired Raja" has begun talking about succession. The likely departure of the 72-year-old is sure to shake up local politics in Sarawak, but it could also have a profound impact at the national level.

The theory is that if Taib were to step down, fresh elections could be required in the state, as any successor would lack the influence to hold the local legislature together. This is an opportunity for national Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his three-party coalition, which has been working hard for some time to woo voters outside Peninsular Malaysia.

If Anwar's PKR and its allies were to control the Sarawak state assembly, analysts believe it would be only a matter of time before MPs from Sarawak tapped the public mood and crossed the floor in Kuala Lumpur. This would hand the government to Anwar and bring about the biggest political change in Malaysia since independence in 1957.

Such a scenario is some way off, but it's the one confronting prime minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

That's why his government pulled out all stops to win a by-election in the state of Terengganu on Jan 17. It failed, handing another seat to the opposition, but the contest in the country's north-east is a case study of what to expect when the battle for Sarawak begins.

Even by Malaysia's lofty standards of political patronage, the Kuala Terengganu by-election was expensive. Najib and his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, desperate to arrest its electoral fortunes, tried to spend its way to victory. The numbers are both appalling and beguiling.

All told, Najib, who is expected to take over from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March, handed out A$4.4 billion (RM10.5 billion) to voters. That works out at nearly A$55,000 for each voter in the seaside electorate. The big-ticket items were the establishment of a A$4.2 billion trust to manage the state's oil revenue and the well-timed handover of A$169 million in petroleum royalties.

But this was not the headline act. In a ceremony the local press described as "controversial", Najib Razak handed out A$25 million in government contracts to 600 local firms at a party rally. Even more cynically, the government gave A$21 million to Chinese schools in the district, just as it looked like the parents of these students would determine the election.

In the end, they didn't and the government lost because Malay voters deserted it, while the ever-cautious Chinese either sat out the election or voted for the opposition. And while a 2.5 per cent swing against the government is hardly a landslide, the by-election loss would be very worrying for Najib given the amount of money thrown at the problem.

"The government's traditional strategy of just buying votes failed," said political analyst Wong Chin Huat, who lecturers at Monash University's campus in Kuala Lumpur. "The win by the opposition showed the mood for change still exists in Malaysia."

This mood for change is also breaking down traditional rivalries in a country long divided by race and religion. The opposition coalition won in Terengganu despite fielding a candidate from the deeply conservative Pas. Not only did Pas gain more secular Malay voters, thanks to a moderating of its language, but it also did not scare off the Chinese.

This was despite Najib and the government doing their best to stoke racial and religious tension.

The victory is also a direct result of Anwar being able to hold together a coalition containing Pas, the Chinese moderates of the DAP and his own multiracial PKR. It is, to say the least, a diverse coalition, united in many ways only by its hatred of a government that has ruled Malaysia since independence.

Finding common ground will be the challenge if the opposition ever comes to power, but for now it's still focused on how to get there. Sarawak holds the key, and while patronage failed the government in Terengganu, it has long held sway in Borneo. — Australian Financial Review

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — In the weeks following Pas's win in the Kuala Terengganu by-elections, there has hardly been a whisper about hudud or the supposed split among Indians within Pakatan Rakyat.

It appears that the gamble taken by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to bite his tongue and sidestep those issues during the campaign has paid off.

The PKR de facto leader did not have to isolate any group of supporters by making a definite stand despite calls for him to do so.

In the end, the euphoria of victory has allowed the last embers of dissent on these matters to die out.

This has perplexed Barisan Nasional leaders, who believed that the "infighting" would have caused votes to leak from the opposition.

The governing coalition ended up losing the seat by a majority four times that which it had itself won by in the March 2008 general election.

Analysts believe that PR made gains by allowing each party the freedom to speak on issues.

"By allowing DAP and Pas to continue to beat their drums on hudud, they are given a cause to champion to their political constituents," says political consultant Khoo Kay Peng.

By conventional wisdom, such issues, when left to fester, can result in deep cracks in a coalition.

But the only conventional wisdom that Malaysian politics has had has been from BN.

PR appears to have a different idea about dealing with consensus building within a coalition.

When BN's Ketuanan Melayu or Malay supremacy achilles' heel starts to blight it, its supreme council, the highest decision-making body in the coalition, stops the rot by virtually issuing an edict on such matters.

When then Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail referred to Chinese Malaysians as "immigrants," the fierce spat between component leaders and Umno ultras saw grassroots members from both Umno and Gerakan asking for Gerakan to leave BN.

The supreme council had to step in with the final word on the matter and allowed Umno to suspend Ahmad for three years.

But while PR has an informal leadership council made up of Anwar, Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, the body has existed in most part only to sign off on agreements designed to pledge allegiance to the coalition or on principles such as Malay rights.

Under the proposed PR charter, a presidential council made up of the top leadership of each party will be established as its highest decision-making body.

But leaders from the tripartite coalition told The Malaysian Insider that it will not operate in the same way as BN's supreme council as PR prefers to recognise different ideological stands and allow an open debate on issues to reach a consensus before implementing any policy.

"The idea to establish it is there but only to deal with major issues and not on ideals and political differences," said DAP Socialist Youth chief Anthony Loke, who is a member of the coalition's joint secretariat.

Anwar, when pressed on hudud during the Kuala Terengganu campaign trail, had maintained this line by saying: "We abide by our Constitution, but we should allow Muslims to articulate their views. I have no objections discussing it within PR."

Meanwhile, several Pas and DAP leaders such as the former's spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the latter's chairman Karpal Singh had voiced their opinions on the matter loudly, leading to dissent within PR supporters.

But the opposition does not see it necessary to muzzle such public disagreements.

"It takes time to reach a consensus, so we should be prepared to engage in discussion," said Khalid Samad, Pas's Shah Alam MP.

Yusmadi Yusoff, MP for Balik Pulau, added that for PKR, it was interested in real harmony not an artificial one imposed by BN.

"BN is about homogenising any dialogue and creating taboos. But in the PR setup, when Karpal or Hadi make a stand, it is based on principles and democratic convictions," he said.

In short, while both Khalid and Yusmadi agree that a BN supreme council-based mechanism would be politically expedient, it would not achieve "real reform." - The Malaysian Insider

"Sudah berpuluh tahun rakyat kena buli dengan Umno. Hampir separuh abad Umno menjadi pembuli. Umno buli generasi pasca merdeka. Tanpa ada rasa belas kasihan Umno menjadi ketua buli dalam Barisan Nasional. Melayu kena buli dengan Umno, cina kena buli dengan MCA dan India kena buli dengan MIC. Paling lawak, Umno jugak sekali-sekala suka buli MCA dan MIC.

Ketika Umno sedang seronok buli rakyat yang baru terlepas dari cengkaman penjajah dan sangat mengharapkan sesuap nasi, Umno begitu seronok menakut-nakutkan anak-anak yang ketika itu masih kecil bertelanjang.

Generasi ketika itu sangat takut kepada Umno. Apa yang Umno buat betul belaka. Putih kata Umno, putihlah pada rakyat. Sesiapa yang berani membangkang ketika itu, pasti akan mendapat azab dari Umno. Mereka akan di 'raging' secukup-cukupnya oleh Umno.

Jika yang menentang pegawai kerajaan, bersiap-siaplah mereka untuk di poskan ke kawasan pendalaman. Mereka akan dihukum berkerja di wilayah persekutuan jin bertendang.

Sebaliknya jika mereka yang membangkang itu berkerja sendiri, jangan haraplah nak merasa baja subsidi, tanah, jalan raya, atau apa-apa kemudahan prasarana dari kerajaan. Mereka akan dibuli oleh tali barut Umno yang bergelar YB, Tok Sidang, Tok Penghulu, atau Pengerusi JKKK. Dan jika yang membangkang itu pelajar, jangan mimpi nak dapat biasiswa atau apa-apa bantuan. Silap-silap kena humban di dalam ISA.

Itu dulu. Ketika Umno sihat dan muda. Kini usia Umno lebih 62 tahun. Umno sudah tua. Oleh kerana banyak masa mudanya digunakan untuk buat jahat, Umno cepat kena penyakit tua. penyakit nyanyuk dan mudah lupa. Barangkali berkat doa orang yang dizalimi membuatkan Umno terlalu mudah dihinggapi pelbagai penyakit tua yang kronik.

Kini tiba giliran Umno kena buli. Dalam keadaan sakit tua Umno telah dibuli oleh generasi muda. Pengundi muda inilah yang telah buli Umno melalui saluran peti undi pilihanraya. Generasi muda yang lahir di era 70-an ini telah dibesarkan dihadapan Umno sendiri. Generasi ini telah lama meluat melihat gelagat dan telatah Umno ketika membuli ibu bapa mereka.

Generasi muda ini telah menjumpai formula kelemahan Umno. Selaku orang tua, Umno mudah dikalahkan jika pertandingan pilihanraya berlaku dengan satu lawan satu. Selama ini Umno kuat sebab tiada pakatan di kalangan pembangkang. Akhirnya Umno mudahmendominasi pertandingan. Lalu setiap pilihanraya Umno dan BN akan buli parti-parti pembangkang secukup-cukupnya.

Dan sekali lagi, itu dulu. Ketika Umno masih boleh membuli. Ketika SPR, Polis, media, dan pegawai-pegawai kerajaan cari makan dengan Umno. Ketika Umno boleh memperbodoh-bodohkan rakyat.

Kini giliran Umno kena buli. Rakyat telah bangkit untuk buli Umno dan BN. Dan rakyat semakin bersedia untuk mencari pembuli-pembuli datuk nenek mereka. Selepas ini tiada siapa yang terlepas. Baik kerajaan atau pembangkang tetap tidak terlepas jika masih membudayakan perangai pembuli seperti Umno.

Seronok tengok Umno gelabah beruk kena buli dengan generasi muda. Dan yang lawaknya, dalam diam sekali sekala dilihat MCA dan MIC juga ambil kesempatan untuk turut buli Umno. Maklumlah mereka juga pun dah lama bengang dengan Umno.

Bagi semua ahli politik ingatlah, sejarah tidak pernah berulang, yang berulang hanyalah kesilapan manusia itu sendiri! - Tranungkite