Seeds of hatred between races and religions sowed by leaders endorsed by Barisan Nasional

[Malay] Guan Eng of DAP chats with Pak Samad - a great Malay literature artist

Guan Eng of DAP & Mat Sabu of PAS: About life, curry fish head, Karpal Singh & politics

Ever wonder how much does it cost to own a house in 1972 in Malaysia?

Average salary for an executive working in Kuala Lumpur increases from RM 800 to RM 8000  

- 10 times more (From 1972 to 2012)

Average Double Storey terrace house in Kuala Lumpur increases from RM 19,000 to RM 700,000

- 37 times more (From 1972 to 2012)

Housing loan repayment period also increase from 10 years to 30 years

- 3 times more (From 1972 to 2012)

Under the rule of Barisan Nasional for 55 years has led to uncontrolled rise of the cost of living has forced many young Malaysians unable to afford private-own housing these days. It's time to change the government, coming this 5th of May 2013 to see a better future.

Vote for Pakatan Rakyat, hope for the people. Vote for Change.

20th April 2013 - Malaysia's 13th General Elections Nomination Day

By Martin Jalleh

UMNO Style: Slander first...and apologize later...

Malaysia: 13th General Elections= BN's Janji Ditepati vs PR's Merdeka Rakyat

Malaysia- The 13th General Elections are definitely around the corner, and the first State Assembly that will dissolve automatically will be Barisan Nasional (BN)- controlled State Assembly of Negeri Sembilan on 26th March 2013. It is expected that the Prime Minister Najib Razak to dissolve the Parliament latest on 26th March 2013 or drag on till 28th April 2013 with the General Elections held silmutaneously with the Negeri Sembilan latest by 25th May 2013 which is about 60 days from the day where the Negeri Sembilan state assembly is dissolved.

The best way to inform the people of Malaysia will be a prime debate between current Prime Minister Najib Razak and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim but no one in Malaysia believe that PM Najib Razak will dare to pick up that challenge.

And so, I would like to sum up the 13th General Elections of Malaysia to be a contest between

It's Your Choice:

Barisan Nasional (BN)'s Janji Ditepati (Promises fulfilled)

VS

Pakatan Rakyat (PR)'s Merdeka Rakyat (People' independence)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Janji Ditepati VS Merdeka Rakyat

Najib Razak OR Anwar Ibrahim

as Prime Minister of Malaysia

Malaysia PM asks: Are you ready for BN? Crowd says "no"

Current Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak hailed from the ruling party of UMNO / BN asked the crowd in a mega BN Penang State open house on 11th February, the prime minister asked the crowd three times "are you ready for Psy?" which the crowd replied "Yes!" and then the PM asked "are you ready for BN?" which the crowd replied "No!" (Penang State government is currently led by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, from the federal opposition pact of Pakatan Rakyat). Most viewers and analysts agreed that the event was an major public relations disaster for Prime Minister Najib and his ruling party of BN.

 

 

Happy Chinese New Year! Year of Snake.

Happy Chinese New Year to all ethnic chinese in all over the world.

Especially to all Malaysian Chinese, in this new year, discard the old and bring in the new, and dare to vote for change for a New Government in upcoming General Elections with a new leadership under Pakatan Rakyat.

Have a good holiday and a reunion of friends and family.

God bless

Joshua

Malaysia's rising debt...in the past decade

The time is near: Semarak Reformasi

People's Power the heart of Democracy.

While the mainstream media in Malaysia like RTM 1, RTM 2, TV3, NTV 7 (TV channels) and newspaper like Utusan Malaysia, The Star, Berita Harian, New Strait Times playing over, over and over of the violent acts of  the 0.001% provocateurs/ saboteurs of the worldwide and nationwide rally for free and fair election in Malaysia. Let's have a true glimpse of the rest of the 99.99% crowd for free and fair elections. The spring of democracy and unity have arrived in Malaysia. There's no tyrant nor dictator in any civilizations in prehistoric era to the modern-information era in the world was/ is able to stop the arrival of spring. Please have a look:



May God almighty clean the country from corrupt and tyrant leaders!

Marina Mahathir's Bersih 3.0 Experience.

My Bersih 3.0 experience: Behind the barbed-wire barricades
— Marina Mahathir

The Malaysian Insider

Apr 29, 2012

APRIL 29 — It was the barbed wire that did it for me. Up til Friday afternoon I was still unsure about going. My hubby thought I’d already made my point last year. I was annoyed with continually being asked whether I was going or not, more so with the non-story that came out in M’kini which basically said I hadn’t decided yet. I mean, does it matter?

 

Then I saw the photos of the police rolling out the barbed wire and I saw red. Since when did our police, or whoever is their boss, roll out barbed wire — barbed wire!! — against their own people?? Are we thugs? Terrorists? Thieves?

 

So I decided to go. I contacted friends and found out their plans on how to get round the roads which were sure to be blocked and the LRT which may be stopped. The same friend who so kindly offered to be my ‘bodyguard’ last year offered himself again. We got into my car, went to collect some other friends and drove to as close to Central Market as we could.

Part of the way down Jln Brickfields we couldn’t go any further so we got down to walk. On one side of the street were thousands of people in yellow walking in the direction of the Central Market. On the other side of the street were hundreds of police in their dark blue uniforms. But they didn’t look hostile and just watched us go by.

We got to the Central Market which was swarming with people. Earlier I’d read a tweet that said that people were going into the Market to have lunch and my friends and I were laughing about Malaysians and their food. “Well,” we said, “Central Market restaurants will get a lot of business!”. But when we got there, the Market was totally closed. So all those restaurants lost business today!

Caught up with friends in the car park while we sat to wait. It was HOT!! On the little CM stage, Ambiga was seated there with many of our colleagues from women’s groups. I went up to say hello, took some photos and then went down to wait again. At 1.20pm or so, Ambi took the mike to announce that we were going to move off soon, heading towards Dataran Merdeka. But, she added, we were not to breach the barriers, we would only go as far as we could and then we would simply sit down for a while and then disperse.

The atmosphere was much more fiesta-like than last year. There were people in yellow T-shirts or in other colours, in shorts or in tudungs, lots of young ones and some also of a certain age. Like last year, it was a very diverse crowd. I bumped into some old friends, some young people I knew including a nephew and the children of some friends, and met some new ones, people who were coming to a rally for the first time ever. These were not radical highly-politicised types, just your average men and women, the type you’d meet at the supermarket perhaps. I asked one newbie woman why she came and she said it was because she realised that if she wanted change, then she had to do something.

After Ambiga spoke and a quick briefing by the marshals, we moved off. Because of the crowd we made our way slowly, stopping every now and then to take photos of the awesome crowd and ourselves. At Central Market I estimated there were at least 6,000 people that I could see (though I have to say I’m bad at estimates) but many, many more joined us as we walked along.

When we got to Lebuh Pasar Besar, there was a big crowd on it facing the direction of Dataran Merdeka while others continued on to Jalan Tun Perak. We decided we would stay on Lebuh Pasar Besar (where the Bar Council is) and made our way towards the bridge across the Klang River (just before Agro Bank). That was where we had to stop because the police had put up a barrier of barbed wire (actually my husband said it’s razor wire, not barbed wire) and those red plastic road barriers, all stamped ‘DUKE’. On the other side of the barrier stood a whole row of police. Most look quite senior and they simply stood there and looked at us.

I got to the front of the barrier where someone had put up a sign that said ‘Welcome to Tel Aviv’. It felt very accurate. The police recognised me and nodded. I asked them, “What is this?” pointing at the razor wire, which has blades on them which can seriously cut you if you get hurled on to them (see close-up pic above). The senior cop there shrugged and gave a wan smile. “This makes me sad,” I said to him. Again he shrugged.

We stood there for a while. Some people started to sing Negara Ku so we all joined in. The senior cop who shrugged at me stood at attention, really the only one who did so. Some people started chanting ‘Bukak, bukak!’ meaning open the barriers. But overall there were high spirits but nothing provocative.

Then suddenly all the cops moved back, away from us. We were puzzled but in a short while we realised why. Several police trucks moved in and headed in our direction. For a moment I wondered if they were simply going to mow us down. Then they retreated again. Next a whole row of police with helmets, batons and shields formed in front of the trucks facing us. Again we wondered if they were going to charge us, which seems silly because they too would have come up against the razor wire.

Someone then told us to sit down. So we did on our side of the barrier while on the other side, about 10 metres away, the police were lined up with their shields and batons. It looked like it was going to be a battle of wills, who would last longer in the heat. We were prepared to sit for the next two hours til 4pm, the appointed dispersal time.

After about 15 minutes sweating behind the razor wire, someone told us to move back and disperse. “We must use our brains. Don’t provoke. It’s time to move back.” So we moved away from the barriers and milled around the streets, just looking at people. Bumped into more friends and chatted to random people who said hello. It was a nice atmosphere, akin to going to a fun run or something like that.

We then read a Star tweet that said that Ambiga said Bersih 3.0 was already successful and we can all now disperse. So my friends and I made our way back to Brickfields, got into my car and drove home.

It was only after that that we started to get SMSes and tweets regarding teargas at Dataran Merdeka. It was a shock because up til then there was nothing to indicate that the police might do that, even when they brought the ones with the helmets and shields out. We passed many cops on our way home and they hardly looked at us.

My phone was running low on battery and I had to wait til I got home before hearing from my daughter that she had been tear-gassed. She was part of a team video-streaming the events today and was near Dataran Merdeka, stuck among thousands of people, when some people, against Bersih’s instructions, breached the barriers and ran onto the Dataran. The police then started running away from them and soon they saw why: the teargas canisters being fired at them. Her first time being tear-gassed, she said it was awful but people around her were all helping one another. What was more frightening was the fear of being crushed but luckily people were so mindful of this that if anyone fell, they were immediately given space and a hand up. She’s fine though and I never really worried about her because she had a friend with her who was tasked with making sure she was alright.

(Her videos, along with those by others, are now on the Bersih428 YouTube channel).

Since reaching home, I’ve been trying to keep up with the many, many reports on today’s events, both the good and the bad. Yes, there were some people who misbehaved, let’s be honest. We don’t know who they are but in such a large crowd there are bound to be people like that, despite instructions from the Bersih steering committee and marshals not to provoke anyone. There are also very likely agent provocateurs who are out to make trouble and discredit Bersih.

But it doesn’t detract from the fact that an unbelievable number of people turned out today, far more than last year, and compared to the incidents of bad behaviour, there was a far larger number of people who marched and rallied peacefully. I hardly saw anyone with a frown or a scowl but lots of happy smiles. Just like last year, I never once felt unsafe. Instead I felt part of a large Malaysian community, all together for one cause. Or two, since the anti-Lynas people also turned out in huge numbers.

Here’s a report from the UK’s Independent newspaper which is pretty accurate although there were far, far more than 25,000 people there. It was hard to see everybody but it had to be about 50,000-80,000. There are thousands and thousands of photos and videos being uploaded right now. So go take a look and decide for yourself. I also hope people will put up their personal stories too.

I’m sorry that there were people who got injured, both protestors and police. None of that was really necessary. A few weeks ago, at the International Women’s Day rally in PJ, 5,000 people turned up and there was absolutely no violence because the police left everyone alone to do their thing. The same could have happened today, if only the powers-that-be could have been wiser.

One more thing, about those politicians who were there. At Central Market there were some there but they were not allowed to speak. Along the march, if anyone started any chants that sounded political, others wouldn’t take it up and they pretty soon petered out. Like last year, the most popular chants were those that simply said ‘Bersih’ and ‘Hidup Rakyat’. Most were simple ordinary people, who just want to express how they feel and who really have no time for politicians.

Besides, which politician or political party, from any side, can mobilise anything as incredible as Global Bersih? — rantingsbymm.blogspot.com

Change, Save Malaysia!

As democracy flourishes in Myanmar with Nobel Peace Laurrete Auug San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) wins all the 43 seats it contested in the recent by-election in Myanmar. It's time for Malaysians to decide a better future for the country and its people.

Change, Save Malaysia!

Ubah, Selamatkan Malaysia!

A minor dissection on Pakatan Rakyat's 2nd crisis of confidence.

Pakatan Rakyat, an alliance formed by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) on April 2008, after Malaysian voters handed the opposition parties a landslide one-third of the parliamentary seats in the national level and mandated Pakatan Rakyat to govern 5 states as the State Governments through the 12th General Election.

DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has described the latest Kedah state DAP pull out from Pakatan Rakyat state coalition governing the state led-by PAS as Pakatan Rakyat second's crisis of confidence after a much-reported and heated crisis of confidence involving PAS's "Unity Talk" idea with UMNO, the governing party since Malaysia got its independence 52 years ago.

While DAP leaders at national level play down the displeasure displayed by Kedah State DAP's media announcement of quitting the state government coalition led-by PAS, Pakatan Rakyat as a viable and capable political force to govern Malaysia at the national level is under another round of "Bush-fire".

DAP is one of the longest and most consistent political party in the country that has almost no experience as a public governing body unlike PAS who have experiences governing states like Kelantan, Terengganu and PKR which has a considerable amount of governing experiences and leaders in previous administration whether at federal or state-level.

While DAP Kedah-state has remained steadfast and principled in defending what it right according to their intepretation, their media annoucement of pulling out from Kedah-state Pakatan Rakyat coalition even before consulting with DAP leaders at national level is unacceptable to many ordinary right thinking Malaysians who hope for a new Federal Government in the next general election under Pakatan Rakyat.

This sudden and uninformed act does not contribute to the adminstrative stability as a indispensable foundation of being a democratically-elected government. It is time for all members/ supporters/ leaders of DAP, including that from PAS and PKR to send a strong-signal to the Malaysian public that the Pakatan Rakyat alliance is a capable and viable alternative to govern Malaysia . Any complaints must be addressed through proper channels rather directly to the media/press. DAP at all level must start distinguishing between being on the opposition bench or goverment bench.

Being on the government bench, one must not play typical opposition tantrum OR it will lose all credibility. Being on the opposition bench, one must act as viable alternative to the sitting government OR remain on the opposition bench forever!

If Pakatan Rakyat wants to come into power at national level in the next general election. Speeches and public forums are not enough, Pakatan must prove to the people through stable and progressive state administrations / governments in Selangor, Kelantan, Penang, Kedah and "Perak".

Change we can believe in... Just change...do we really have the option to change? Let's see until the next General Election on 2012 0r 2013...

Joshua

Malaysia By-Elections Summary/ Results

(Official results of the three by-elections in Malaysia on 7th April 2009 are released)

12th General Election of Malaysia on March 2008 saw a shocking result to the Ruling coalition party (Barisan Nasional) losing 2/3 majority of the Parliamentary seats in the House of Commons and handed 5 out of 13 State Governments to the opposition party (Pakatan Rakyat) People’s Alliance where the it received 47% (3,796,464) of the total votes against (Barisan Nasional) National Front that received 50% (4,082,411) of the total votes cast in the 12th General Election.

Five by elections has been called since the 12th General Election.

1
Permatang Pauh (Aug. 08)-Parliament
47,410 Votes
PR- 31,195 (65.7%)
BN- 15,524 (32.7%)
15,671 Majority Pakatan Rakyat

2
Kuala Terengganu (Jan. 09)-Parliament
63,993 Votes
PR-32,883 (51.3%)
BN-30,252 (47.2%)
2,631 Majority Pakatan Rakyat

3
Bukit Gantang (Apr. 09)-Parliament
41,626 Votes
PR- 21,860 (52.5%)
BN- 19,071 (45.8%)
2,789 Majority for Pakatan Rakyat

4
Batang Ai (Apr. 09)-State Assembly
6,019 Votes
BN-3,907 (64.9%)
PR-2,053 (34.1%)
1,854 Majority for Barisan Nasional

5
Bukit Selambau (Apr. 09)-State Assembly
24,602 Votes
PR- 12,632 (51.3%)
BN- 10,229 (41.6%)
2,403 Majority for Pakatan Rakyat

(PAKATAN RAKYAT) 4 Vs (BARISAN NASIONAL) 1

Excluding spoilt votes and votes for independents here’s the summary by popular trend:

____________________________________________________
Post- Perak constitutional crisis (Three By-Election in April 2009)

A total of 72,247 votes cast.
36,545 or 50.6% for Pakatan Rakyat (Opposition)

33,207or 45.9% for Barisan Nasional (Ruling Coalition)

______________________________________________________

Post-12th General Election (All five by-elections since March 2008)

A total of 183,650 votes cast.
100,623 or 54.8% for Pakatan Rakyat (Opposition)

78,983 or 43.0% for Barisan Nasional (Ruling Coalition)

_______________________________________________________

Statistically, the popular trend indicates a rising atmosphere of political change in Malaysia since March 2008 up till April 2009.

Joshua

Malaysians to deliver a verdict...

As the polling process is underway for three by-elections in Malaysia, 7th April 2009 will be remembered as the day that Malaysians (voters) deliver a verdict on the Perak State Government constituitional crisis, the popularity of the new 6th Prime Minister and also approval rate for the ruling party of Barisan Nasional (National Front) of 52 years.

The ground atmospheres on three by-elections constituency appeared to be in favour of the opposition party, Pakataan Rakyat (People's Alliance). However, the results of the by-elections might be questionable if the results are in deep contrast with the on-ground atmosphere.

Will Malaysians (The voters of the three constituencies)vote

1. Vote for righteousness & justice?
2. Vote for democracy & human rights?
3. Vote for our future & economy?
4. Vote against oppressive dictartorship?
5. Vote against corrupt practices?
6. Vote against arrogant leaders?
7. Vote to defend the Federal Constituition?

Hopefully the independent and international election observers are able to ensure the verdict reflects the heart and the minds of people.

Joshua

Tree of Democracy (Part IV)

Hello everyone,

Today is the eve of the three by-elections in Malaysia. First series of election of the country after the ascension of the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

04.07.09 will a be a day to vote “4″ “7″ principles:

1. Vote for righteousness & justice.
2. Vote for democracy & human rights.
3. Vote for our future & economy.
4. Vote against oppressive dictartorship.
5. Vote against corrupt practices.
6. Vote against arrogant leaders.
7. Vote to defend the Federal Constituition!

Choose wisely!

Tree of Democracy (Part III)

As Malaysia dawns for a new Prime Minister (6th Prime Minister of Malaysia), the unsettling political situation continue to witness the battle between democracy and autocracy.

Oppresive measures have been mounting against opposition rallies, against peaceful gatherings, against indepedent media , against democratic measures, against opposition elected representives who were voted by 49.5% of the voters on 8th March 2008 (12th Malaysian general election) as local crime rates continue to soar and economical crisis deepens.

As the greed for power grows stronger than ever, democracy can only ensure the power to govern is the power to serve unlike autocracy that defines the power to govern is the power to rule over.

On 7th April 2009, three by-elections in the Malaysian States of Kedah, Perak and Sarawak were called by the Federal Constituition after two elected representatives passed away and one opposition representive vacated his constituency seat after receiving imminent threats/ pressure to switch political allegiance against the opposition. Now, democracy has its chance to flex its political "muscle".

How much more repressive measures are to be taken by the desperados to restrain the flourishing democratic process enshrined in the Federal Constituition and universal human rights?

Every vote in the coming three by-elections in Malaysia are more crucial than ever. I urge to voters of the respective constituency of Bukit Gantang in Perak, Bukit Selambau in Kedah and Batang Ai in Sawarak to choose their representative with utmost wisdom and justice.

04.07.09 will a be a day to vote "4" "7" principles:

1. Vote for righteousness & justice.

2. Vote for democracy & human rights.

3. Vote for our future & economy.

4. Vote against oppressive dictartorship.

5. Vote against corrupt practices.

6. Vote against arrogant leaders.

7. Vote to defend the Federal Constituition!

Choose wisely!

Joshua

Tree of Democracy (Part II)

So, what happened to the tree after the historic State Assembly emergency meeting on 3rd March 2009?...here are the following events...

About five days after the historic event of the Perak State Assembly under the shed of a tree after the elected-state assemblymen / representatives and State Assembly speaker were denied access to the State Assembly building (The act of denying access to the rightful people itself is a contempt to the State Assembly, State Consituition and the Federal Constituition of Malaysia), a democracy plaque was installed in commeration of the historic event on 8th March 2009.

Less than 72 days after the Democracy plaque were installed, vandalism has done damage on the plaque, reducing it to a Democracy relic.

Less than 48 hours after the Democracy plaque was reduced to a Democracy relic, further physical damage was done on the plaque and black paint were poured on the words recording the historic event that took place under the tree. Now, the democracy relic has been further reduced into a black tainted democracy relics.

Less than 24 hours after the black paint incident, the local council issued a warning that the plaque ia to be removed by the next morning. Indeed, the Democracy plaque was barely one week old, it was vandalised, painted and literally vanished from the site. The Democracy tree now is in a real threat to be cut down.

Finally, I would like to end my blog by a statement made by a prominent Malaysian Opposition leader...

Joshua

A quote from Opposition DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang:

~In the small hours of this morning, like thieves in the night, the vandals went to work again, pouring black paint to erase the wordings of the Democracy Relic immortalizing the historic “Tree Perak State Assembly” on March 3, 2009, which has entered the folklore of the human struggle for democracy, attracting national and international interest and attention.

The enemies of democracy are in mortal fear of the Democracy Tree, Democracy Plaque and the Democratic Relic.

They should be more afraid of the Democratic Spirit and learn the lessons of history that no force on earth can suppress the quest for freedom and justice when the time has come for human beings to stand up for their fundamental birthrights to freedom and dignity.
Shame to the masterminds who sent out the vandals to desecrate the Democracy Plaque and Democracy Relic. Freedom and truth will prevail in the end.~ Lim Kit Siang.

Photos from http://blog.limkitsiang.com and http://anilnetto.com