Respect the deceased, Syed Hamid told

The home affairs minister Datuk Syed Hamid Albar should properly respect the family members of the deceased police detainee and not condemning them as a family of criminals instead.

Syed Hamid should have acted professionally as a minister by offering condolences to the bereaved family and not branding the family as part of the crime.

By immediately passing the judgment to the deceased as a convicted criminal, when even the court of law has not even give its judgment, Syed Hamid had demonstrated his immature attitude towards a human being. He as a lawyer himself should have acted and think rationally and not emotionally.

So, what about those policemen who were now under investigation for the torture and murder of the deceased suspect? Is Syed Hamid going to hail them as not guilty and hero instead?

We want to advise Syed Hamid, the more arrogance you show in this case the more resistance you will receive from the public and even if the deceased suspect has been proven for his crimes (car theft), he will be hailed as a hero instead.

Therefore, Syed Hamid should tone down his arrogance and show his respect to the public by acting as a gentleman and inform the people and the said family that he shall not comment further until the judiciary process takes place and give its judgments.

As a minister, he should not be overly one-sided and too emotional in critical issues which had been made known to the general public.

Do not deny your weakness, police told

After the funeral and cremation of a police detainee still under investigation, who was brutally tortured and murdered by a few irresponsible police personnel, every one of us are demanding to know what is the direction of the police force now?

We are all asking this question not only for Kugan, not only for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (who was brutally tortured and beaten up by the then Inspector-General of Police) but for all those innocent people who had both suffered from mentally and physical tortures under police detentions or detention without trials.

The major concern here is not for a few particular individuals, but in the interest of the public in our nation, the human rights of each of every person here in Malaysia. Innocent people were not respected, deprived from their dignities and treated like a common murderers, like it was these people has been detained and immediately given the judgment as guilty by the police force and therefore, being treated like a murderer, a terrorist or a common criminal. Like what has been shown in a movie Judge Dredd who acts as a police, judge and executioner in public. We are not asking you to treat suspected criminals in a first class manner, these people are human beings too, they need to be treated in a just and fair manner too and let the court of law take its course.

Our question is simple! Where are our people’s rights? Are we safe and is our security guaranteed? Why is the crime rate going up and increasing daily?

Let us answer them for you. You are nowhere around when we needed your assistance, your bit base are either locked or empty, your stations are insufficient in manpower, for patrolling and so on, most of your personnel are either overweight or inefficient, politically one-sided and so on, and there are a lot more problems in the organization and structures.

When there is motor vehicle accident, we cannot make a report at the nearest police station, because they would not accept it, but instead we need to go to the district police headquarters to do so. So what is the use of having all those police stations in the villages, housing estates, markets and the bit base as well? If all these police sub-stations cannot even play a simple role of receiving and validating a report, then what are all those policemen doing there? What is the use of building so many police stations here and there and they cannot even fully function for the benefit of the public.

We have heard a lot of sayings or merely sayings from the previous and present Inspector-General of Police saying that any police stations in the country must receive reports from the public but it still doesn’t work at all. We still received complaints from the public over the inconvenience of having have to go over to the district police headquarters on a minor issues or vehicle accident, even if is there is already a police station nearby. If all these police stations cannot even play a simple role, other than the district police headquarters, just close them down effectively.

No wonder the district police headquarters are always packed with documentations, jammed with public daily enquiries, complaints and grievances, insufficient police personnel or clerical staff to handle ongoing cases and complaints which caused of the delays and errors when there are hearings, recording of statements, missing files, missing reports, misunderstandings and so on. Sometimes, you could also see traffic jams in the district police headquarters and there don’t even have enough parking space for the public to do so.

So, what are they actually doing all these while? All we had seen is these policemen has been doing a lot of political duties on behalf of prominent and powerful politicians from the federal government, namely stamping out people’s freedom of speech, freedom of expression, human rights gathering, curbing opposition parties’ activities, curbing opposition parties’ gathering, arresting opposition parliamentarians and state assemblymen for doing their jobs, manning road blocks to increase traffic jams at peak hours, eyeing or planning something to prevent an imagining political unrest which will never happen at all, listening too much to the views of the Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians and lastly having no self judgment on what is right and what is wrong. That is why the crime rate in this country is so high.

We have cases now, houses and properties of prominent politicians, businessmen being robbed, intruded into, even retired top police officers’ residence are not spared as well. There are a few reports of senior police officers being badly injured by highly experienced professional criminals. We all also know, the police cannot even control the rising influence of the well known and notorious Malay motorcycle gangs known as “Mat Rempit” in Malay language. This is because these policemen are busy curbing opposition politics for the BN people.

The police are treating suspected petty criminals in a harshest manner whereas the harshest criminals like those “Mat Rempit” are treated in a softest manner. And they let Putera Umno do the rest when they were caught in illegal racings and committing other violent crimes.

When crime alert, they are nowhere to be seen, but when there is a cycling for public awareness on certain issues, human rights or some peaceful and harmless candle light vigil, the police are the quickest in coming over to haul up and beat up all these innocent and harmless people who were merely exercising their citizens rights just because they are opposition sided in their activities. Their views are, politics are more important than crimes. Their immediate superior is the home affairs minister who is also a prominent and powerful leader of the supremacist Umno and that is where they get their salaries from, so they must listen to him more, politically.

Then they come saying these gathering and that activity is illegal and there is no permit or permission and more and more reasons they give. It is all about the law, and this is what they always say. The citizens always break the laws. They and even the home affairs minister do not use their common sense to judge things in a humane manner.

Just imagine if there is a festive celebration going on at a place of worship and there are many people that who are going in the place of worship for the purpose of prayers, recitations, offerings, can you go arrest all those innocent people just because they are gathering there or the place of worship has been too overcrowded and there’s no permit for it or they fear that it will run out of control? We supposed the home affairs minister may take advantage of these and expand his powers onto such occasions one day, if the opposition parties were to make more inroads in the next general elections. Who knows?

Therefore, it has been very clear that the force has been overly and extensively made use by Umno to enhance its political interest. The force is not fully independent and it acts on the executive order of the dominant party in the country, and we all know who.

Therefore again, we need the Independent Police Complaints and Misconducts Commission (IPCMC) to take place in order to improve the situation, the structure, the organization and finally, to upgrade the professionalism of the police force. The police force need not fear of the IPCMC, the creation of IPCMC is to guide the force into a better and respected organization and trusted by the people.

The police force must understand the IPCMC is here to help, not to create more damages. Umno is still in a denial mode and we really hope that the police are not in a denial mode as well. So please, let us help each other and not fear each other instead.

Death of civilian under police custody, denial and cover-up

With another death as the result of police brutality, the call for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be established had once again resurfaced.

There is a need for the IPCMC to come into the picture as soon as possible because the police force had to-date yet to let seen any of its reforms or improvements as promised by the BN government earlier. In other words, nothing had really been done so far?

The assistance by the two deputy ministers in the prime minister’s department to the family of the deceased recently had also sparked protest and uneasiness from the police force for trying to seek the truth behind the cover-ups. However, the police has not being able to cover-up anymore, thanks to the fast and efficient acts of the two deputy ministers and the press as well to expose the wrongdoers who are also the murderers from within the police force.

Due to the wide publicity onto this murder, the attorney-general had no any other choice but to classify this case as murder and a file has been open to facilitate the charges onto those who involved.

And yet at the last moment, in order to avoid losing face, the home affairs minister Datuk Syed Hamid Albar try to stress that if the two deputy ministers were to be found to have been part of the group of aggrieve family members who ambushed and stormed into the mortuary to examine the body of the victim, they will be charged for the said offence.

Why did Syed Hamid trying to do something to deny the incident which had in actual fact already taken place and the truth has been established that those policemen had killed the 22 year old man while under detention. It proves that Syed Hamid is behaving like an ostrich now by trying to hide only his head under the sand thinking that nobody would ever know anything at all.

Syed Hamid also known as the “Father of Security Instability” is well known as an expert fast moving and committed liar in all areas he is involved with. Look at during the previous incident when the then Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail who uttered racist remarks on the Chinese community during an election campaign and a journalist reported his statement in the press.

Did you know what happened? Datuk Ahmad Ismail immediately admitted his racist statement and pledged to repeat his act again and called for the journalist who wrote his statement in the press to be arrested or killed. So, after that Syed Hamid immediately signed the detention order to detain the journalist who reported the incident to the press under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for the purpose of protecting her (the journalist) from any extremist threat.

So what happened is the real threat to the security Datuk Ahmad Ismail escapes untouched. Or could we say all Umno top leaders are untouchable because of their supremacist position in the party and the country.

Therefore, we need a new system of governance and a new government as well to let the truth prevail and give confidence and hope to the people and our nation.

Establish state level IPCMCs

With the reoccurrence of civilian death in police custody recently, we would not know how many more will happen again in future and the refusal of the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government to commence with the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill in the parliament but to only proceed with an ineffective Special Complaints Commission (SCC) bill instead, we want to repeat our urge to the Pakatan Rakyat led state governments in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan to establish the state level IPCMCs in their respective states.

We are very certain that, in the states’ constitution that governs the state administrative structure and the legislative proceedings, these state governments are entitle to establish a commission to investigate, service and to serve the public interest. We call it a state service commission. If the respective state governments can review their powers as mentioned in their state constitutions, we believe that the formation of the state level IPCMC could be carried out soonest without any interference or any judicial review.

If in event such measures contravenes with the federal constitution because the police force are under the federal jurisdiction, then the respective state legal panels should sit down and review an alternative approach like, forming a smaller entity called the State Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Committee (State IPCMC) or a State Legislative Committee on Police Watch and so on. There are numerous more approach and alternatives instead of merely instituting the IPCMC.

The State IPCMCs if materialize, should include appointees from the public, community leaders, non-governmental organizations, consumer associations, business leaders, state assemblymen and members of parliament. Besides, prominent persons with proven track records in public administration and all parts of communities should also be included in this organization in order to demonstrate its transparency and competency with the people and the general public entirely.

Therfore, we would like to urge the Pakatan Rakyat states to initiate the formation of the State IPCMCs first as soon as possible. The parliament is still dominated by the BN members, and there’s no way we could insist for the actual IPCMC bill to the end, unless there are BN MPs who are willing to lend their support to Pakatan Rakyat MPs. The problem is, will the BN whip ever allow this to happen?

Pro-Umno subversive elements in MPSP

Why and how in the world Umno got hold of the list of assessment arrears owed by political parties from the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) before it was submitted to the state government?

The state Umno secretary Datuk Azhar Ibrahim was quoted in the newspaper recently that Umno had received a copy of the report. But according to Azhar later, he said that the report was not a report or a letter as it did not have a letterhead. Azhar also claimed that the report is just a statement telling them how much they owed MPSP.

If Azhar is referring to the same report that the state government currently has, then there is a serious problem within the MPSP. The report might have been copied or stolen by pro-Umno subversive elements from within the MPSP and passed to an Umno leader who manages such syndicate of spies.

If such pro-Umno syndicate or elements does exist in MPSP or even the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) and other state administration offices, it could pose a massive security threat to the safety of the state government systems, documentations and records. If can, Umno could pose severe damages or sabotage on the structures and administrative activities of the state government of which would also jeopardize the security and well being of the state as a whole.

Umno owes a large sum in building assessment

Just look at how much Umno, the dominant party of Barisan Nasional owes the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) between six to 11 years ago. The Umno buildings which were involved are listed herein.

They are the Permatang Pauh Umno division building in Jalan Tanah Liat, Bukit Mertajam (RM25,548), Pekan Darat Umno branch (RM1,582.71), Teluk Air Tawar Umno branch (RM228.08), Umno building in Lorong Bagan Luar 1, Butterworth (RM209,135.45) and the Umno secretariat club in Kampung Pertama, Permatang Pauh (RM64).

So, according to Umno's "ketuananship" in the previous BN state governance, they have the right not to pay up these arrears and the right to delay them as long as they are in "power" and "powerful".

DAP National Chinese New Year Open House

DAP National Chinese New Year Open House 2009 will be held at the KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharajalela 50150 Kuala Lumpur, time 11.00 am - 1.00 pm.

For enquiries please contact tel: 03-7957 8022.

DAP is educating KT voters on the need for clean, progressive and non-racial politics

It is extremely ungracious of MCA political education bureau chairman Gan Ping Siew, in the wake of Barisan Nasional's defeat in the Kuala Terengganu by-election, to proclaim that DAP owes non-Muslims an apology for campaigning for PAS.

Gan’s comments are an insult to the DAP leaders, staff and volunteers who campaigned wholeheartedly for eleven days with the spirit of unity. MCA has really hit a new low by showing utter disrespect to its fellow Malaysians’ right to campaign for their coalition partners. In contrast, DAP has respected MCA’s right to campaign for the BN candidate in the by-election and has looked forward to a healthy battle of ideas and inspiration.

Perhaps MCA is finding it hard to get over the fact that DAP’s presence in the campaign trail has helped inspired a united push for change in the form of a Pakatan Rakyat victory. DAP leaders have made it very clear that no policy, including Islamic law, will be made Pakatan Rakyat policy if it does not obtain approval from all Pakatan Rakyat parties. DAP’s campaigning for PAS in Kuala Terengganu represents the support of clean and democratic governance and non-racial politics that is envisioned by Pakatan Rakyat.

Contrary to Gan’s statements, it is MCA’s hypocrisy over the issue of a theocratic state that is misleading non-Muslims in this country. MCA’s silent approval on Tun Dr. Mahathir’s declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state in 2001 and Dato’ Seri Najib’s own proclamation of the idea in 2007 should remind non-Muslim Malaysians of MCA’s confusing vision of Malaysia.If we subscribe to Gan’s twisted logic, then MCA’s participation in the BN campaign is a betrayal to Chinese Malaysians as it is tantamount to supporting the kind of racial supremacy so proudly preached by its partner, UMNO. Therefore, MCA should apologize to the Chinese community for campaigning for UMNO in Kuala Terengganu.

We are deeply disappointed with Gan and MCA for espousing hypocrisy and the politics of fear that are clearly being rejected by the Malaysian people. MCA’s continued denial in the wake of yet another BN electoral defeat is precisely one of those ‘qualities’ that will sink the party into political wilderness in the very near future - DAP Political Education Directorate.

Penang to have 750 free WiFi hotspots in two years

Penang will have up to 750 free WiFi hotspots in two years’ time despite protests from various anti-WiFi groups about the potential health risks of exposure to radiation.

Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng, who launched the Wireless @ Penang Penang Free WiFi test drive with RedTone-Hotgate at Komtar on this afternoon, said the state government has evaluated all evidence before continuing with the project.

"All evidence point to the fact that WiFi is safe. If not, we can’t send our children to universities too because all universities here have WiFi," he said. Lim also said he and Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi are exposed to WiFi 24 hours a day as they have four WiFi hotspots in Komtar and in their homes. "If WiFi is harmful, Jeff and I will be the first to get fried by radiation."

Redtone-Hotgate Consortium set up a promotional booth in Komtar for the public to test the free wireless internet services provided jointly by REDtone Telecommunications Sdn Bhd and Hotgate Technology (M) Sdn Bhd. Free WiFi booths are also set up at two other pilot sites at Queensbay Mall and Bukit Jambul Complex and the booths will be open for three days starting Wednesday.

The booths are located at the Komtar main entrance, the lower ground floor of Queensbay Mall and the ground floor of Bukit Jambul Complex.

Redtone-Hotgate Consortium will install up to 25 hotspots by the end of February and coverage will extend to 300 hotspots, including the mainland, by March 2010 - The Sun.

BN govt orders federal officers to refuse allocations

The instruction issued by the minister in the prime minister's department Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to all federal officers in the Pakatan Rakyat held Perak state to refuse any allocations and funds to the village committees and the people is the sign of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's direspect of the state government elected by the people and its action also contravened with the federal consittution which ensure all democratic principles are adhered to.

This shows the BN government is still in a denial mode, they refused to respect the people's choice and instead working on organising resistance against the state government by establishing rival federal village committees to counter the original state village committees which has been in existence more than 30 years ago.

The BN government's intention is clear, they wanted to split the people and the government by witholding funds and allocation to the state so it will not develop.

It is believed that the instructions to the federal officers to refuse allocations and funds to the people will soon be channel to the other Pakatan Rakyat held states as well.

Therefore, the people should realise how direspectful of the BN not only towards the people who had made their choice of electing the Pakatan Rakyat into the five states, but also federal constitution as well.

We must also let the BN know that, those funds and allocation also belongs to the people and not any other party, be it Umno, MCA, MIC or Gerakan.

MCA owes the Chinese an apology

It is mischievous for MCA political education bureau chairman, Gan Ping Siew, to say that the DAP owes non-Muslims an apology for campaigning for PAS in the Kuala Terengganu by-election as it was tantamount to helping the Islamist party establish theocratic rule in the country.

The DAP stand has always been against establishing a theocratic state or an Islamic state in the country whether it be by PAS or UMNO. This stand has been there even before PAS became a component party un the Pakatan Rakyat. In fact, it is the MCA which supported the setting up of an Islamic state when former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, declared Malaysia an Islamic state in September, 2001 when addressing the Gerakan general assembly.

The MCA can be deemed to have accepted Dr Mahathir’s declaration that Malaysia was already an Islamic state. There was not even a whimper on the part of any MCA, Gerakan or MIC leader against that wholly and absolutely a declaration devoid of any substance or merit. In fact, Dr Mahathir publicly challenged the Federal Constitution which declares Malaysia to be a secular state.

Further, Dr Mahathir’s declaration contradicted the public statements by Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn, who were lawyers, that Malaysia was a secular state. Dr Mahathir’s declaration was also in contempt of the declaration by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Tun Salleh Abas, in 1988 that it was secular law which applied in the country which meant Malaysia was a secular state.

Non-Muslims in the country are well aware of the DAP’s stand against an Islamic state. Time and again, DAP leaders have made this clear both in and out of Parliament. The record speaks for itself unlike the MCA’s record which supports an Islamic state on the premise that the MCA supported the declaration by Dr Mahathir in 2001 that Malaysia was an Islamic state.It is the MCA which owes the Chinese an apology, and not the DAP. The MCA should not pull wool over the eyes of the Chinese particular and non-Muslims in general.

The DAP’s position in the Pakatan Rakyat is crystal-clear when it comes to the country being a secular state, and not an Islamic state. That position is backed by constitutional authority. That is the caveat under which the DAP cooperates with both PKR and PAS. Both PKR and PAS are fully aware of this solemn caveat.

The DAP’s participation in the Pakatan Rakyat is to ensure that there is a two-party system in the country which is a necessity to give the people a choice of the government they would wan installed after a general election. This choice which the people have been given is clearly reflected in the March 8 general election last year.

The DAP wants a two-party system to be perpactuated in the public interest. However, it must be on the basis of sincerity and principle on the part of the component parties of Pakatan Rakyat. Matters of principle must be given the highest premium. It is towards that objective that the DAP will play its role in the Pakatan Rakyat - Karpal Singh, DAP National Chairman & MP for Bukit Gelugor.

BN govt orders federal dept heads to resist Perak state government

We have a grave situation here. Reports from the press had confirmed that the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government is stepping up its resistance first against the Pakatan Rakyat-led Perak state government.
The minister in the prime minister's department Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said yesterday, with immediate effect all federal heads of departments would not be allowed to attend state-level meetings and these federal departments will only consider recommendations and applications from their own created federal village and security committees (JKKKP) instead of the original state village and security committees (JKKK).

According to Datuk Zahid, the move was needed to cut off the state village and security committees (JKKK) appointed by the Perak state government from obtaining any development funds from federal departments. This will eventually make the state JKKK weaker, unreliable, with lack of funds and thus, making the people dissappointed with the state JKKKs' ineffectiveness and moving their grievances to the JKKKP instead.

It is believed that resistance organised by the BN government would eventually move into the other Pakatan Rakyat-led state governments like Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Kelantan.

However, Datuk Zahid had declined to reveal further plans on the other Pakatan-held states when asked to disclose the similar plans in the future.

Looks like the BN is seeking some sort of revenge on the people who voted in the opposition coalition in the five states. The BN is still in a denial mode.

Chinese New Year Open House in Penang and Butterworth

Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng will be hosting his Chinese New Year Open House in the following:-

Date: 26 January 2009

Venue: Rumah Teratai

Address: Jalan Macalister, Penang

Time: 10.00 am

DAP Penang and DAP Bagan Paliamentary Liaison Committee will be jointly holding its open house in the following:-

Date: 28 January 2009
Venue: Dataran Pemuda Merdeka (Padang Bandaran MPSP)
Address: Jalan Datuk Haji Ahmad Badawi/Jalan Bagan Luar, Butterworth
Time: 11.00 am

The Penang state government will hold its Chinese New Year celebrations at Campbell Street from 6.30pm to 10.30pm on Jan 29.

The Chinese New Year cultural and heritage celebrations will be held in the George Town heritage area on Feb 1, from 12.00pm to midnight, and will feature cultural performances.

All party members, supporters, bloggers and friends are most welcomed. Thank you for your continuous support.

Gong Xi Fa Cai (Kung Hei Fatt Choy)

Wishing all bloggers, readers, supporters, party members and friends a very Happy New Year to all of you and Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Thank you for your continuous readership and support.

Pakatan Rakyat, why the people’s choice?

The results of the recently concluded by-elections in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat which gave the victory to the Pakatan Rakyat demonstrated that the people are willing to give the opposition coalition the opportunity to help shape the future of our nation.

The willingness of Pakatan Rakyat to open up its forum and debates its policies, differences as well as seeking public opinions on their policies also prove to be a successful in the eyes of the people, as it shows democracy is practically active and alive in this opposition coalition. The people view such debates and differences as openness, freedom of expression and understanding instead of split as often being labeled by the Barisan Nasional against their opposition counterpart.

The assumption of a closed door meeting of being united and consensus in decision making are something of the old days talk and had gone into history, which were still practically adopted by the Barisan Nasional component parties.

The people were fed up with the closed door policies of the Barisan Nasional and its secrecy in meetings and the ways policies are dictated from behind the doors. People wanted to know, wanted to be part of the policy process, debate and to understand the contents prior to its implementations or enforcements. In other words people wanted to see competency, transparency and accountability in all policies decided and undertaken by the government in order to move the entire nation forward and not backward.

The openness of the Pakatan Rakyat forum as shown in the most recent events proves that this is what the people want. The people wanted to see if their leaders are performing, fighting for them, going for them, following up for them, near to them, speak for them, act for them, do for them, implement for them and make them part of the decision making and policies implementations as well.

The people of today are different from those in the 80s and 90s of which the Barisan Nasional is still in with. The people of today are more informed, learned and knowledgeable in wanting to get to know not only if the government is really doing something for them but if the policies and implementations are carried out in a proper and lawful manner, with competency, transparency, accountability instead of doing any work in secrecy, in a corrupt manner, back door deals, cronyism, nepotism, under-table manner and so on.

In the people’s word and the people’s demand, they wanted to know where the income taxes which they have been paying, goes to. They wanted to know if their income taxes really funded the development and channeled to the people who really need them or if these monies end up in the pockets of the ruling elites or those who were closely link to the ruling elites (like the Barisan Nasional). The basic word here is the Truth.

We can see in every election campaign, the Barisan Nasional will always emphasize on development, businesses opportunities, high rise buildings, economic development and so on, but the people had send them the clear message: we know you are doing this and that, but we also want to know how you did it!

Anyway, the Barisan Nasional will continue to always emphasize on development, businesses opportunities, high rise buildings, economic development and so on, as they are still in a denial mode. They refuse to accept the will of the people and that the mindset and demands of the people had changed.

In order to stay on, the Barisan Nasional will also continue to play with their racial cards, divide and rule policies amongst its coalition partners and outside the coalition as well.

Pakatan forms council to counter BN and federal discrimination

A formal Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Chief Ministers Council and Secretariat was established today to counter what they claimed is discrimination by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Speaking to the press this evening after meeting his fellow PR mentris besar, Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said they were fed up of being left out by Abdullah, who only met with Barisan Nasional menteris besar.

“When MBs of all states meets during the Council of Rulers, we are excluded by the Prime Minister, who meets only BN MBs separately at the end.”

Lim said they were left with two options, to either go back to their states or wander the streets of the city they were in. “We have been patient for nearly a year and as leaders who are democratically elected by the people we felt we had no choice but to form the council.”

The establishment of the new council was formally called the Mentaloon Declaration by Kedah MB and state PAS commissioner Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak who hosted the meeting in Dewan Sri Mentaloon, which is at his official residence, here.

He said the council will be used to co-ordinate the activities of the five states and was necessary to reduce miscommunication between leaders. “Many feel that we (PR Chief Ministers) are contradicting each other and through the council we hope to sit together and iron out our differences.”

Perak MB and state PAS secretary Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said the council will meet at least twice a year and will be chaired by the menteri besar hosting the event.

Selangor MB and state PKR liaison chairman Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the Council was an opportunity for them to exchange ideas and learn from each other. “It will also enable us to manage our states more effectively.”

Kelantan MB and PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat was at the meeting earlier but did not attend the press conference.

BN lost, Umno infighting continues

From the results of the Kuala Terengganu by-elections results which saw the BN-Umno candidate being badly defeated by the Pakatan Rakyat’s PAS candidate on 17 January last week, which shows the BN coalition which is led by Umno is becoming irrelevant in the eyes of the people of today.

BN had won the parliamentary seat with a slim majority in last year’s general election and lost the seat last week with an increased lost of popularity. What happened then? We all know the factors behind the BN loss in the by-elections in Terengganu.

Umno, the dominant party in the BN coalition of 14 parties, has been suffering from infighting and factional rivalry ever since the present Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said took over from his former boss Datuk Idris Jusoh. Despite having made peace after the open tug-of-war last year for the Mentri Besar’s position, the two faction remain as rival in all divisions and branches in the state. Each faction is trying to outdo each other in the branches and divisional elections and they are now lobbying for the supreme council elections in Umno this coming March.

Intense fighting between these two factions continues, even though both Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his party deputy president cum president-elect Datuk Seri Najib Razak had called for a truce between these two factions in order to focus in the by-elections.

The actual fact is the Ahmad Said faction and Idris Jusoh faction accepted the truce call by their national leaders but continue their rivalries in their election campaign rounds where each faction is working to outdo each other in order to seek the attention of Najib, who is also the BN-Umno director of operations. No doubt that both Ahmad Said and Idris Jusoh are campaigning hard for the BN-Umno candidate but it is clear that these two leaders do not see eye to eye nor speaking to each other and so do their faction supporters who were looking each other as enemies rather than PAS.

The fact that the Umno factions in Terengganu has been overly split up and too uncooperative to an extend that the national leadership have to seek a helping hand from Umno leaders from as far as Sabah, Johor and Pahang to come over to campaign for the said candidate.

Apart from that Umno leaders seen by many as corrupt and untrustworthy were also roped in to campaign in the by-elections for BN, especially of those from Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah which proved to have damaged the BN-Umno machinery as a whole. Reminders were also made known to the voters over there of Umno’s rising extremism and its BN coalition partners like MCA, Gerakan, MIC and PPP as mere lackeys with no powers at all. The people there still remember how were these BN parties being treated by Umno previously and how Umno rised to extremism with couple of its leaders expressing the party’s racist policies in open which had in fact angered the Chinese and Indian communities as a whole.

Besides, the ongoing case in the court involving the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu had also caused some impact with the one of the two accused had testified in the hearing that he received instructions from Najib’s police ADC to “settle” Altantuya from a discharged accused political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.
With all these factional fightings and rivalries within Umno election machinery and the ongoing murder case which may involve Najib in the end, the BN-Umno did not seek to work out to prove all these allegation were wrong but merely cover them with their extensive old campaign slogans of denouncing and condemning the Pakatan Rakyat coalition as being unfit to govern the country and accused the DAP, PKR and PAS that they had lied to the people and so on.

From the Pakatan Rakyat side, we could see DAP, PKR and PAS were seem clashing on their views regarding the Islamic hudud laws but they managed to convince the people that this is the policy of Pakatan Rakyat that has to be proven in front of the people i.e. democracy, where every component party in the Pakatan Rakyat were of equal status with no one ever being dominant over the other. Therefore, with democracy actively alive in the Pakatan, these three parties were able to demonstrate that differences amongst them can be debated in public for the good, understanding and betterment of their relationship as a whole. In fact, when DAP and PAS were debating on the hudud issue, they even went to the ground to seek the people’s opinion and feedback.

BN as its has been clearly seen, with Umno as a dominant party over the other component parties like MCA, Gerakan, MIC, PPP, etc. In the BN, they claimed that their “debates” were held close door and Umno plan and dictates the policies of the coalition from within the Umno supreme council itself. The BN component parties only need to receive, understand and accept the policies dictated by Umno as the policies of the BN in actually it only benefits Umno in the whole process. So, is there a democracy in the BN? People are watching the BN and how it works till today, the rest of its component parties are seems to be quiet and obedient prior to the general elections last year but has been too vocal only after they lost in the general elections. What is the use of being so vocal right now? Are they able to break up the Umno dominancy and monopoly if they continue to be vocal now? Is Umno going to listen and repent based on the criticism of MCA, Gerakan, MIC, PPP, etc?

So with the above situation, it shows that there are no practical democracy in the BN at all, which allows open debates, discussion and criticism amongst members of the coalition and to seek the people’s opinion on their differences.

We ask them now, will Umno reform? The answers is No. If Umno would not reform, so do the BN. And where to for its coalition partners like MCA, Gerakan, MIC, PPP, etc? They have no choice but to stay on as lackeys and be obedient to their masters. Therefore, may BN rest in peace!

DAP to field more Malays in next general election

The Perak DAP intends to field more Malay candidates including Islamic scholars in the next general election, Perak DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said today.

He said the political trend in the country had changed tremendously and showed that DAP continued to be accepted by voters, especially the Malays. "In the 1990s, voters especially Malays were scared of DAP to the extent of taking it out on the party's flag and posters.

"But everything has changed now. Malay voters are eager to register as DAP members and set up new branches, in which they are the majority members," he told reporters after the launch of the Kampung Ayer Tawar DAP branch here.

During the event, Kampung Ayer Tawar DAP branch pro-tem chairman Ahmad Ikram Abdul Karim, 45, submitted 53 membership applications, comprising Malay men and women - Agencies.

Polling day at Kuala Terengganu

Today is the polling day for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency. High voter turnout is expected today based on efforts from both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional to voo the voters and those staying outstation to return home to vote.

The battle between PAS and Umno is seem to be a tough one as both candidates had also proven their potentials in their campaign rounds and commitments as well.

Despite PAS and Pakatan Rakyat were dealed with a heavy blow from the BN controlled mainstream medias and newspapers, comments from the grounds had predicted a good chance for PAS. Some analyst like Ong Kian Ming had even went as far to predict PAS' victory at about 7000 vote majority this time.

Well, right now, no one knows yet on the outcome. We will have to wait till the polling stations close this evening and when counting begins then. We have to admit that this is surely a tough fight. Will the voters choose to continue the previous political tsunami?

DAP request KT voters to support Pakatan economic plan

On the eve of the crucial Kuala Terengganu by-elections, the DAP has openly asked Kuala Terengganu voters to support Pakatan Rakyat's RM50 billion economic stimulus package and for petrol prices at RM1.20 a litre.

Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said today the Kuala Terengganu by-election on Saturday will be "a good indicator to gauge the people's support, especially from the Malays" to determine the national agenda.

Throwing support behind Pas candidate Abdul Wahid Endut, Lim said lower petrol prices was feasible as global crude prices have dropped below US$35 a barrel, similar to global prices on Oct 1, 2000 when Malaysian pump price was RM1.20 a litre.

"It is only fair that the government further reduce the price of petrol by 60 cents from the present RM 1.80 per litre to reflect the current market price," said Lim, who is also the Bagan Member of Parliament.

He also called on the people to support the electoral pact's RM50 billion economic package "to save Malaysian jobs and businesses that Malaysians can see, touch and feel the difference".
The economic package, which Lim had announced before, includes a RM6,000 annual oil bonus for families earning less than RM 6,000 a month or RM 3,000 annual bonus to bachelors earning less than RM 3,000 a month which will only cost RM35 billion.

He also proposed a progressive reduction of corporate tax from the present 25 percent to 17 percent which will cost RM 13 billion, a daily revision of petrol pump prices linked to changes in global prices and immediate cuts in gas prices as well as electricity tariffs.

Lim also promised an additional RM 2 billion wireless project "so that as many Malaysians as possible can be connected to the Internet" - Malaysian Insider.

Guan Eng warns subversive civil servants

The Pakatan Rakyat Penang government has cautioned any civil servants in the state who harbour ulterior motives not to try making things difficult for the new administration.

Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said today his office had received feedback that certain quarters had been deliberately mismanaging government work and even stoking racial issues.

He said that while most public servants were doing their jobs well, there were a few who were involved in maladministration.

“I have come to know that that there are certain parties in the state public offices who are using whispering methods, that are malicious, to ignite race-related sentiments,” he said. He pointed as an example the case of a Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) staff who rented out council-owned tents at a much higher rate than that charged under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) state government, without informing his superiors.

There were also cases where there was discrimination in the issuance of summonses. Addressing a gathering of state-level government officers at Geodesic Dome in Komtar here, Lim stressed that the PR government intended to eradicate corruption as well as racial attitudes in the state’s administration. “Don’t make things difficult for the state government,” Lim said, stressing that the public was not fooled by the work of such government staff.

He said there was a general public opinion that certain civil servants were working to “sabotage” the new state government.

“The public is not ignorant unlike what the BN assumed,” Lim said. “They are able to evaluate the situation and understand what is going on.” He warned that stern action will be taken against any government servant found to have breached the state’s rules and guidelines.

He also urged civil servants who detected anything amiss in their departments to report the matter to his office.

He said the state government intended to serve all Penangites with equal care, regardless of race, religion or social standing.

Lim pointed out that the state was working to eradicate hard-core poverty across all races, and had given RM100 in water rebates to each low income households regardless of its ethnic background. He also noted that the state had made contributions to huffaz (people who can recite the Quran) even though it was led by a Chinese chief minister, thus cutting across the ethnic divide.

“We will not compromise based one’s race if we find that an individual or organisation has gone against the rules and policies set by the state government,” he said - The Sun.

BN promised development only if it wins the by-election

The deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had earlier said that if the people of Kuala Terengganu vote BN in the coming parliamentary by-election, more changes and developments will roll into the constituency.

Looks like the Umno deputy president is some sort of "blackmailing" the voters of the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency into voting BN. Should BN lose the by-election the people there will be punished with no developments nor any changes to the said area.

Is this the way democracy works?

A vote for BN is a vote to Umno's supremacy

A vote for BN is a vote for so many issues that that matters. If we could list them out it could be possible in a lots of pages needed.

A vote of BN is defenitely a vote for Umno's division chairmen, Umno's branch chairmen, Umno's contractors, Umno's sub-contractors, Umno's business corporations, Umno's dominancy, Umno's racism, Umno's violence, Umno's supremacist, Umno's arrogance, Umno's monopolies, Umno's capitalism, Umno's "pendatang" policies, Umno's wealth, Umno's "mat rempits", Umno's newspapers, medias, television stations and so on.

If we vote for BN it means we will make Umno leaders wealthier, richer and dominant over the people and our communities. In the end where will all our income tax goes to? Think about it, think of the future for this country of ours.

DAP flags taken down at KT by-election

We had received news that party flags put up by our DAP members in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election were taken down by the authorities reasoning that DAP was not contesting in the by-election, therefore the DAP cannot raise their party flags in the public.

Why double standard ? Umno is putting up many of its flags on the streets everywhere in the contesting areas. It was actually Barisan Nasional (BN) who is contesting the by-elections and not Umno.

The only registered contesting parties with the Elections Commission for this by-election are BN and PAS. So why are Umno flags raised for this elections then? The authorities should be fair to all parties who are contesting in the elections and the political parties who are assisting their coalition partners.

The authorities are acting double standard.

The Toyota Camry issue

Recently, we have news of the Selangor and Perak state governments receiving their first batch of Toyota Camrys for the use of their state executive councillors and senior state officials. Previously it was the Trengganu state government who opted to buy in the Mercedes Benz to replace the ageing Proton Perdanas in their state.

Selangor Umno liaison committee chairman Dr Mohd Khir Toyo yesterday made a fuss out of all this issue again by saying the cost savings initiated by the Pakatan Rakyat state governments were a bluff. What bluff? In fact Dr Khir had a lots to explain on all the conditions and over expenditures of all the Proton Perdanas service during his reign.

Remember, what happened during the Selangor state executive councillor Ronnie Liu's travelling previously? His Proton Perdana which he was in it suddenly mulfunction and the bonnet was blown open while on the road which almost kill both Ronnie and his driver.

When the incident was reported to Proton, the Proton service managers tried to avoid the faulty reports and gave a lots of lame excuses, this and that, here and there and so on. Proton even went to an extend of blaming the drivers of the official vehicle even after facts after facts were produced to confirm the negligence in serivicing.

Prior to this, we also had reports that the respective state government had found out that the repairs or servicing of these Proton Perdanas had gone up to hundred thousands of Ringgit and in total cost of serivicing the entire fleet of these official cars, it came up about millions of Ringgit. Some of the vehicle serivicing agents and dealers were even being called up by authorities for questioning for a possible corrupt practice being taken place.

So during the Umno's reign in these state governments previously, were there any transparencies in sending all these car for serivicing, repairs, etc, etc? Are these serivicing agents or dealers related to Umno and are all these cars' spare parts were replaced with the cheap and low quality ones?

All these needed to be checked, looked into it deeply and upfront the decision by the Selangor and Perak state governments to replace their ageing Perdanas with the more reliable Camrys should not be questioned and politicised as an issue. Let us all look back the facts and figures first, what are the cause and who are the cause to all these previously.

It is totally being unfair to put all the blame on the Pakatan Rakyat state government when they reported any faulty conditions of the vehicles or any wrongdoings arise when they took over after the 8 March general elections last year.

It is usual for Dr Khir to continue to complain and politicising this issue in order to cover up the previous weaknesses and power abuses of his administration. No wonder BN was voted out.

Herald gets nod for Malay language but not "Allah"

The BN federal government will allow the Malay edition of a Catholic newspaper to resume publication, lifting a ban imposed for its use of the word "Allah," an official said today.

The Herald, the country's main Roman Catholic newspaper, will not be allowed to use "Allah" as a translation for "God," however, said Che Din Yusoh, a senior official with the Home Ministry's publications control unit.

"If they stop printing the word 'Allah,' they can publish anytime," Che Din told The Associated Press. "You can use another word. It's permissible for us," he said, adding that the decision would be conveyed to the Herald by tomorrow.

The ministry had ordered the Herald last week to stop printing its Malay edition for violating a 2007 ban on the use of the word "Allah," except to refer to the Muslim God. The government says using the word could confuse Muslims, even though the newspaper is read almost exclusively by Christians.

Malay language is widely spoken by many indigenous Christian believers in Sabah and Sarawak states, who read the Herald's Malay edition regularly. The newspaper has continued to publish its English, Mandarin and Tamil editions.

The Herald has challenged the ban on "Allah" in court, saying that the translation has been used for centuries and that the Arabic word is a common reference to God that predates Islam. It says the ban is unconstitutional and threatens the religious freedom of the minorities in this nation.

Is Datuk Shabery joking ?

Race relations under the Barisan Nasional government is more sincere than in the opposition-led administration, said Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Based on track record, Umno is arrogant, racist, a Nazi-based, violent and reign supreme over other races. The BN component parties were treated like second or third class members. So is Barisan Nasional's race relations really good?

Penang Govt lifts stop-work order on MMC-Gamuda JV

Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said today the government made the decision to allowed MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture Sdn Bhd to resume work on its electrified double-track project through mainland after receiving assurance from the company that it will settle pending payments worth RM 7.4 million owing to the state.

He explained that the company has made partial payment of RM4 million and undertaken to finalise the remaining amount by Chinese New Year. Of the amount, RM 3.2 million was owed as drainage contribution to the state government, while some RM 4.2 million was mainly fines to the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) for conducting work without planning permission, he said.

The state government issued a stop-work order on the project last month after the company failed to submit planning permission application to the MPSP, Lim explained at a press conference at his office in Komtar today.

He also dismissed reported criticism by state Opposition leader and state Umno secretary Datuk Azhar Ibrahim that the Pakatan Rakyat administration’s initial decision to stop the project was political motivated.

"The state government wants the project to go smoothly," Lim said. "Even though we have not collected the full amount, we are willing to allow work to continue. So what Azhar said has no basis."

Azhar's misleading statement was reported by a Malay-language daily today (7 Jan) as saying that the state’s stop-work order on the double track project which stretches from Ipoh to Padang Besar was related to the federal government’s refusal to approve some of the state’s requests.

"We are not like the state opposition which thinks that everything is political," Lim said. "If we wanted to stop this project, we would have stopped it earlier."

On the issue of compensation for squatters and residents living on land that is needed for the rail project, Lim said the state was waiting for the company to respond on the amount it was willing to give.

Municipal Elections

It has been in our agenda ever since before the previous general elections to fight for the implementation of open elections to elect our municipal councilors to both Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) and the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) as well.

However, this could only be done when the Local Government Act is amended to enable municipal councilors to be elected by voters and the Pakatan Rakyat is still fighting for this level to be open up for elections.

In order to amend the Local Government Act, we had to have this tabled in the parliament and convince the floor of our need to have the third vote take into effect at the municipal levels. The major obstacles here are will the Barisan Nasional MPs ever ready to support our moves?

So in order to continue strive the third vote, we need your support as well to show to the BN government that we mean business and our objective is Competency, Accountability and Transparency. To the BN MPs, we hope you could come over to support us for the benefit of our people.

New Junction Opened

We would like to congratulate our Sungai Puyu State Assemblyman and Penang State Executive Councillor Phee Boon Poh for his tireless effort in ensuring the successful opening of the Jalan Chain Ferry – Taman Bagan traffic lights and junction which he has been fighting for us since 2004.

We the opening of the said traffic lights and junction, we strongly believed that the traffic loads and congestions of several transit roads nearby would be eased effectively and provide a very convenient passage for our motorist to make their travel choice.

Once again, Syabas to our Boon Poh who is also the DAP Bagan Jermal Branch Chairman.

NGO reps in municipal councils should remain

Referring to the recent statement made by the Penang PKR Chairman Datuk Zahrain who chaired the State Pakatan Rakyat Council meeting, suggested that the non-performing NGO representatives in the municipal councils of Seberang Perai (MPSP) and Penang (MPPP) should be dropped and replaced with representatives from the Pakatan Rakyat component parties.

We felt that such move would be inappropriate as this will derived the NGO’s representation from the local governance. In fact, the allocated seats for the NGOs to be both MPSP and MPPP councilors should remain as it is because we had already committed an open and transparency concept, where the local governance level should be participated by all, including those outside Pakatan Rakyat.

If these NGO councilors are not performing as claimed by Datuk Zahrain earlier, then we speak to the respective organizations concerned and ask them to get us the replacement when the incumbents’ term expires.

By-elections and development projects

As we know the by-election for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency starts today with its nomination roll on. Previously, a by-election was held in Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency and PKR made a clean sweep on the seat with at ease.

Did you know when any by-elections comes to a designated area following the death or disqualification of the incumbent member of parliament or state assemblyman, the Barisan Nasional government is quick to upload its development plans and proceed with its projects earlier or even additional projects were put in to justify its intended victory in the areas concerned.

A simple phrase for this, the BN government will only develop an area whenever a by-election is held. Look at the roads leading into the villages are properly and nicely tarred, traffic lights and street lamps were installed, schools were given additional allocations and funds, drainage systems were upgraded into concrete ones, roads after being tarred were re-aligned, government offices and school buildings or even low and medium cost flats were re-painted in a very nice form, gardens and housing estates were renewed and beautified with fresh flowers and plants and so on.

When we go to the ground and asked those people and village folks of all these new projects and efforts put up by the BN machinery to gain the voters’ support, their answers are “these projects, applications and request were made about 10 to 20 years ago and it never even come, because according to the BN Yang Berhormat, they do not have enough allocations to fulfill all the projects, unless there is a by-election, then all these projects will come in very fast, faster than a lightning and it even came without being asked to”. Another villager said “the road in front of my house has never being tarred for over 35 years and when a by-election comes, the BN machinery came with the Jabatan Kerjaraya (JKR) personnel to have it tarred from one end to the other”.

So, the questions here are, is the BN government really serious and sincere in providing our people developments, enhancements, projects, upgrading, allocations, funds and public benefits? If the BN leaders keep on emphasizing on developments and funding and claimed that only BN could carry on with all these activities, why don’t they bring them over to us at the first place and wait only until a by-election instead? If a by-election never take place for instance, will all these developments and funding come, or should we say actually there is none at all.

We hope the people and voters will be able to judge between sincerity and commitment. Is the BN really sincere or committed to channel the developments and funds to the people all these while? Are they trying to bribe the people and the voters into voting BN whenever a by-election takes place?

MIC's educational project hit with scandal

The party is investigating managers of Maju Institute for Education Development for alleged wrongdoing in awarding contracts - but they point the fingers at the party president instead.

So who were the wrongdoers of all these ? We also heard that recently the MIC treasurer-general was terminated from his position in the party and MIED because of this issue. Is he being made a scapegoat for this ? It is impossible that the former MIC treasurer is alone in this scandal. MIC is putting the entire blame on him just to safeguard the other top leaders of the party.

The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) should step in to investigate the scandal hit MIED as soon as possible and nab all those who are involved to bring them to justice.

Umno & BN are splitting and breaking up instead

In the most recent statement by the Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhamad Taib saying that the Pakatan Rakyat would eventually split due to the differences between the three parties mainly DAP, PKR and PAS in their respective principles and objectives.

We would like to remind Tan Sri Muhammad, these differences shown in the Pakatan Rakyat does not mean our coalition is splitting and would not last. The differences as demonstrated in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition reflects the true nature of democracy in practical which has been carried out by DAP, PKR and PAS in making known to the public of their differences and to prove that even so, we could still come up with joint resolution and work towards strengthening our opposition coalition.

The true democracy as shown by the Pakatan Rakyat also demonstrate the transparency nature of communications between all coalition parties which will also reflect to the people and voters that differences between partners can be debated and mutually discussed in order to provide and to gain better understanding amongst parties concerned. Therefore, in Pakatan Rakyat no parties are dominant and all coalition partners are treated equally.

The major differences here is Barisan Nasional (BN) even though a coalition of political parties consist of Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, SUPP, SPDP, PRS, PBS,UPKO, PBB, LDP and the rest, it operates like a secret society. All its issues and matter are discussed in a closed door manner and the people and the voters are not allowed to gain any information on the inside communication between them.

Umno, being a dominant party in the BN dictates and decides most of the coalition policies, where all its component parties are required to follow them strictly without any debates, discussions and so on. Whoever or if there are any members of MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, SUPP, SPDP, PRS, PBS, UPKO, PBB or LDP who voted against or abstain on any policies or proposal tabled in the parliament or state assembly, the said member would be penalized or punished with suspension or possible expulsion.

So, is there democracy in BN actually? The simple answer is no, because Umno is dominant and the others would just listen and listen blindly without debating the disadvantages over the advantages. There are no real collective voice in the BN coalition when it comes decision making as a whole as every single move in the coalition has been decided by Umno and its supreme council.

BN is failing because of Umno is failing. The very reason behind these failures are because Umno is very, very much tainted for decades with corruptions, vote buying, money politics, factional fighting, and power tussles amongst top leaders from within. Every faction in Umno are fighting to take control of the party and encourage the other BN component party leaders who supported the respective Umno factions to do so. So, when Umno’s infighting starts, the other BN component parties will follow. For an example, when Abdullah retires in March 2009, then Najib takes over as both prime minister and Umno president, the pro-Najib factions in MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, SUPP, SPDP, PRS, PBS, UPKO, PBB or LDP will also make their moves to tussle with their respective leaderships.

Therefore, the fact here is Umno and BN are splitting and will fall apart slowly and painfully.

KDN’s ban on Herald unreasonable

The home affairs ministry (KDN) decision to ban the Catholic daily’s Herald publication in Bahasa Malaysia has been criticized and condemned as being unjust and does not reflect the federal government’s recognition on its local religious activities.

Instead, the KDN approval only allows the Herald to publish its articles in English, Chinese and Tamil. According to the editor of the Herald publication, the editorial is considering a possible legal action against the federal government and the ministry should these issues remain unresolved till then.

Can we imagine how ashamed we are for being disallowed to use our own national language if this were to make known to other people of different countries and region? The federal government’s move to ban the usage of Bahasa Malaysia in the Herald publication is a direct implication that the authorities were afraid of the so-called “conversion” onto the dominant community of this nation which might be carried out by the said Catholic daily.

In our federal constitution, the freedom of multi religious practice are guaranteed but in somehow restricted by the fact that to protect one religion which wanted to remain dominant and in control of the other religions. Is this really fair anyway?

BN says no worries and be happy !

Did you know recently, the deputy finance minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha had said in the parliament that the ongoing global financial crisis had only caused a minimal damage to our country’s economic situation. He said Malaysia only felt the minimum impact of the global financial crisis and therefore we need not worry so much on the effects.

No wonder there are no measures at all taken by the BN federal government to curb the impact of the global economic crisis. In Penang itself we now had about more than 2,000 out of job and we are expected to add another few hundred by early of 2009. In Sarawak, 1,500 is already confirmed to be out of job by next March. In areas of Selangor like Shah Alam, Port Klang and Johor’s Senai, the figures are also there but not yet reported as some of these affected companies are trying to keep these impact as low profile as possible. Our neighbour, Singapore is also feeling the impact as well.

So, BN says no worries at this moment, be happy!