Tsunami of change will not be denied

Steve Oh

As Adolph Hitler is a stigma on German and human history, a cursed personification of all that is evil with his fascist ideas on race and politics, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad looks doomed to suffer the same ignominious fate after the GE13 results.

Malaysians voted decisively to reject the old politics of race and religion and corrupt governance left behind by the man who changed his country for the worse just like Hitler did.

The new politics of the new generation of young voters added to the persistent efforts of their parents’ generation offer the hope of change that the Pakatan Rakyat promote.

The people are watching you, Umno

J. D. Lovrenciear

Looks like the general perception among the rakyat that UMNO and its cohabiting-partners are hell bent in getting the multi-racial population to repeat May 13 of 1969, is not too far-fetched after all.

But thank God, this is 2013 and not 1969. The pervasive use of and access to the internet media probably has played its effective role in not getting the citizens all riled up and blinded by this race madness that seems to preoccupy the people aligned to ‘die’ for UMNO.

Najib led the racial slurs

Ethnic-based voting and young urban voters in GE13

 

David CE Tneh

With the 13th general election in Malaysia officially over, political analysts are now dissecting the results keenly, and with the recent catch phrase “Chinese Tsunami” being openly repudiated by countless political analysts, one can conclude that voting trends that are based on race-based political parties in Malaysia are now becoming obsolete.

Caught in this dilemma would be mainstream political parties in the National Front or “Barisan National” whose past formula of inter-racial collaboration and power sharing formulated during the British pre-independence days of the 1950’s facing tougher days ahead in the current 21st century and the future 14th general election.

Hello, we are Malaysians

Tih Seong Pin

The call by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) pro-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad for the abolition of Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools in favour of a single stream school which uses Malay-language as a medium is unconstitutional,backward,impractical,irresponsible and unMalaysian.

To abolish Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools in the country means to deny the roles and contributions played by both major communities since Merdeka in 1957 and this does not make sense!

The UiTM pro-chancellor must not forget it was the joint noble aspirations, efforts and unity of the nation’s 3 major races that won Malaysia’s Merdeka and freed us from the British rule thta made us the master of our destiny!

‘Redelineation looms, Chinese may be corralled’

Ram Anand

The next redelineation exercise by the Election Commission (EC) – expected later this year – could involve redrawing the borders to group Chinese voters in a single constituency, in order to minimise the effect of the purported “Chinese tsunami”.

Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) director Prof Mohd Redzuan Othman (left) predicts this based on statements by BN leaders in reacting to the consecutive loss of the two-thirds majority in Parliament.

“(In the last) exercise, they realised that there are Malays voting for the opposition. So what they did was (to redraw the) lines to create more mixed seats, and that worked for them,” he said at a forum yesterday that discussed a preliminary analysis of the 13th general election results.

My vote, my analysis

KJ John

In the last two general elections, I voted for Pakatan Rakyat. In fact, I campaigned privately and publicly with and for Pakatan. Nonetheless, I am not a member of any party and do not find a need to join one.
Having worked hard to influence and support the realisation of this two-party democracy in Malaysia over the last decade, I now want to move into a more neutral mode because the truth and reality of a two-party system is being evolved and can soon be realised.

Pakatan, still the so-called opposition party, achieved more than 50 percent of the popular vote. That is already an incredible and absolute victory.

Hope restored

Juju Johari

After having my heart broken the night the election results were announced, I jumped at the opportunity to express my deepest condemnation of the results, arriving at the Kelana Jaya stadium grounds at about 6.30pm. My friend had picked me up, and being very traffic-savvy, he got us there expediently, which is much to be thankful for considering many others were not so fortunate.

I was immediately taken in by the wondrous sights that greeted me, as people poured into the stadium grounds all wearing black, with people greeting each other as if they were old friends, whilst strangers took pictures of interesting sights, outfits, placards and characters that pointedly broke down racial barriers. That night, in and around the stadium, Malays, Chinese and Indians celebrated their diversity and their love for the country and Malaysianness by not only showing up but also expressing, as clearly as day, their desire for a JUST new world.

GE13 and the politics of urban chauvinism

Eric C. Thompson

As pundits and political analysts dissect the outcome and meaning of the 13th general election (GE13), one prominent explanation for the results has been a supposed gulf between urban and rural voters. As one online commentator put it:

“The urban-rural divide was clear. Pakatan won votes from all races and religions in the urban areas while BN retained their rural base. It is an election result between urban and rural, West Malaysia versus East Malaysia, between the better educated, better informed versus the lesser educated and lesser informed.”

Similarly, the Wall Street Journal’s (Asia Edition) front-page story of May 8 described the result by stating:

Evolution of the Malaysian education policy

Hussaini Abdul Karim

When Malaya was under British rule, the government at that time identified a need to establish a systematic school system that would offer quality education for all races in the country. However, it was made to satisfy British interests but not to the nation as a whole. In 1950, the Barnes Committee headed by LJ Barnes (Oxford University) was established to conduct a study on meeting such a requirement. The 1951 Barnes Report highlighted the following recommendation: All Malay and English schools would be preserved and should be given priority. Vernacular schools would be closed and replaced by the National School. English would be the medium of instruction at the secondary level. Free education was guaranteed in the National School.

Malay business council warns of ‘economic tsunami’

Nigel Aw

The Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) has warned that a new tsunami – an economic one – will hit Malaysia soon due to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that is expected to conclude by October, and will leave local businesses vulnerable.

“This new trade regime is a tsunami that will land in Malaysia, far greater than the political tsunami that just happened,” warned MTEM chief executive oficer Mohd Nizam Mashshar.

Mohd Nizam (left) said, during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, that the free trade agreement will have far-reaching impact on the country’s local businesses and cost of living.

Singapore – friend or foe?

Mariam Mokhtar

The greatest fear of the Singapore government is a Malaysia that is better governed and less corrupt. The extraordinary events in Malaysia over the past few years, plus the courageous stand of her citizens in the last few days, has been closely monitored from across the causeway.

If the infection spreads, the pent up feelings of Singaporeans may be unleashed. The two nations have a shared history.

Singapore may be a first world nation, but when it comes to an outpouring of feelings, the Singaporeans still look up to their cousins in Malaysia.

I am Malaysia

Jun Watanabe

I cannot seem to shake off this feeling of grief. Like many other urbanite non-malays I had voted for an non-BN candidate in my constituency, and the indelible ink on my finger was coming off. At 40 I had just taken part in my first elections, fueled by the responsibility I felt as a parent and a tax paying citizen. But I never used to care.

I speak English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Mandarin better than I speak Malay. I was born in a foreign land and look foreign.

I was never educated in Malaysia- growing up in Johor in the 80s it was an easy choice for my parents, and I started at age 7 commuting to Singapore everyday, and later the US.

Did Mawan really beat the odds?

Joseph Tawie

Embattled and coming-from-behind SPDP is now a stronger party, having retained its four parliamentary seats – Saratok, Mas Gading, Baram and Bintulu – despite the odds.

SPDP, an acronym for Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party, was tipped to lose at least three seats – Saratok, Baram and Mas Gading – in the 13th general election.

But the wins have now further strengthened the party and its president William Mawan, who risked reputation and political power when he volunteered to contest the Saratok parliamentary seat.

Saratok and Baram are two of the 27 seats that opposition PKR is studying for electoral irregularities. In Baram SPDP’s Anyi Ngau retained the seat with a 194 vote majority over PKR’s Roland Engan and Independent Patrick Sibat..

Race relations and the moral imperative

Anwar Ibrahim

A week has lapsed since the 13th general election, where yet another wave of change of tsunamic proportions was unleashed.

But this change, which should have been a change in government, was forestalled by the systemic fraud perpetrated by Najib Abdul Razak’s Umno-BN, which robbed Pakatan Rakyat of its rightful victory.

This is not a question of mere electoral flaws or irregularities but a far and wide-ranging scheme of deception and cheating orchestrated at the highest levels, calculated and executed to ensure that Umno’s hold on power will remain, come hell or high water.

HSBC-Sarawak logger links under the spotlight

Mkini

HSBC-Sarawak logger links under the spotlight

A new video campaign has been launched by Global Witness today, aimed at pressuring on global banking giant HSBC for dealing with logging companies operating in Sarawak’s forests.

The “mockumentary-style” four-minute video stars British entertainer William Edgar Oddie who narrates how HSBC – against its own policies – is funding companies flouting international forestry standards.

The basis for the video is research conducted by international human rights NGO Global Witness, who had last year launched a report condemning HSBC for bankrolling seven logging companies in Sarawak.

A new May 13

Amar-Singh HSS and Lim Swee Im

Some of the younger people who read this would not have lived through May 13, 1969, but we did. One of us, who was in Petaling Jaya at the time, remembers his father almost not making it back home alive. The windscreen of his car was smashed in and the car was badly damaged. We lived confined to our homes in fear for a few days, wondering if we would have enough to eat (in those days few of us stocked up food, as going to the market daily was common practice).

As we process the recent elections, strangely held near May 13, it is imperative that we move forward. Especially since many leaders seem to repeatedly play the race card and stoke up racial fears and sentiments as a means to stay in power. They only change their tune (political chameleons) when the majority of the people speak up.

Can BN and Pakatan leaders work together?

Alyaa Azhar

Academics voice out their opinions on what a Cabinet line-up should consist of and should Pakatan reps be invited to form the govt.

Although some prefer the Cabinet line-up to consist of both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, some felt that such a notion would be impractical.

Aruna Gopinath of the National Defence University’s Faculty of Strategic Studies said that although it would be preferable for the Cabinet to have a participatory system where both BN and Pakatan leaders make up the line-up, she questioned the country’s readiness for it.

“I personally would want a participatory kind of system in the Cabinet line-up whereby the majority from both sides [BN and Pakatan] can work hand in glove.

Pakatan’s black sheep to blame

Ali Cordoba

Bickering coalition partners, nevertheless, continue to ride on the one man who fought tooth and nail to give young Malaysians a better future.

 

The Malaysian electorate is a tricky one and elections in Malaysia have evolved into a complex organ, but it is quite easy to discern the real culprits in the people’s defeat on May 5.

Allegations of fraudulent practices marred the election process, with blackouts that suddenly resulted in knife-edge victories for BN in several parliamentary seats.

There is no way the absence of crowds at the BN rallies contributed to its victory as much as there is little doubt that blackouts and voter buying accusations on polling day were not true.

Academicians press for single stream schools after BN won Election

Bernama

Academicians have called for vernacular schools in the country to be changed to single stream schools to strengthen national unity.

They said problems of racial unity were caused from an inconsistent schooling system, with the existence of schools of various streams.

Former Universiti Technologi Mara pro-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad said vernacular schools developed at a faster pace and that only 10% of non-Malays studied in national schools.

“The rest are in vernacular schools. It is clear that racism is expanding widely, this continues with private secondary schools and national-type secondary schools,” he said on Sunday.

GE13: What Malaysians wanted

Kua Kia Soong

In the aftermath of GE13, Umno wants to know what Barisan Nasional detractors want. Malaysians have felt frustrated and sidetracked by their attempt at communalising the election results, something they have been doing even before Independence.

BN did their worst – did we do our best? Have dissident Malaysian voters been asking what they want in this election apart from “Ubah” and lowering the price of petrol?

“Anything But Umno” is an “away from” response. Have we listed out “towards” demands?

With all the visible injustice and foul play in the GE13, there is understandably plenty of pent-up frustration and anger among those who have experienced being wronged. And we know that the roots of that injustice are to be found in an electoral system that has for years been inherently flawed.

Wait for the next GE, Pakatan

CT Ali

This BN government is not reticent in using everything it has in its arsenal and at its disposal to ‘manage’ any threat to our national security – perceived or otherwise.

The huge crowd at the Pakatan rallies, especially in Kelana Jaya, would have given Najib Tun Razak food for thought.

The oratory on display would certainly have fuelled the adoring assembly into raptures of reverence and expectations of another tsunami, hopefully this time around to sweep Pakatan Rakyat into government.

‘Hari ni PR menang. Esok BN form Government’, ‘Tumbang, Tumbang! Tumbang BN’, ‘Tolak, Tolak! Tolak BN’, ‘BN curi keputusan pilihan raya!’, ‘SPR Tipu! SPR Bohong!’, ‘Mari ketawakan SPR. Ha Ha Ha!’, ‘Tolak Tangan Persahabatan BN’, ‘Kami anak Malaysia’, ‘Kami Pahlawan Rakyat!’.

Malaysia’s Education Divide

Wong Chin Huat

Education policies in Malaysia have been a contentious issue even since pre-Independence days. This has always involved matters of both diversity and inequality, which correspond to the different fault-lines of culture and class. While many have lamented on how the cultural-linguistic division has affected national cohesion, one should argue that, while the communal division is real, we are fundamentally dealing with the issue of class.

Class matters
Inequality exists in every society, but the level of education received can intensify or mitigate it by changing the individual’s skill level and earning ability, and subsequently his or her socioeconomic status.

End of the road for assemblyman Lawan?

Joseph Tawie

Parti Rakyat Sarawak is “collecting evidence” to lynch their ‘errant’ assemblyman Snowdan Lawan who allegedly campaigned for his father against a party candidate.

Two-term Balai Ringin assemblyman Snowdan Lawan’s political future is at stake following allegations that he had helped campaign for his father Donald in the recently concluded parliamentary elections here.

Donald contested the Sri Aman seat as an independent candidate against Barisan Nasional’s Masir Kujat.

Kujat, who is with Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), was in a four-cornered fight with PKR’s Nicholas Mujah and Wilfred Landong of Sarawak Workers Party (SWP).

Silver linings in a GE13 without gold

Bridget Welsh

The dust is beginning to settle one week after the dirtiest election in the country’s history. Some of the dirt will stick, while others will hopefully wash away as the memory of the election fades.

My earlier pieces have focussed on the questions about the electoral process and impact of an Umno ‘victory’. Here I turn to the effects of the election on the expansion of democracy in Malaysia.

The message is one of strength, not weakness, or hope, rather than despair.

A strengthened opposition

Society has changed, May 13 will not replay

Wong Chin Huat

WHEN Umno Wanita chief Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil warned on Nov 28 that “May 13 (1969)” may recur if Umno becomes weak, many would recall the quasi-official explanation for the 1969 ethnic riot: Non-Malay or Chinese voters had abandoned the Alliance.

 

It is quasi-official because it has never been the official reason of the tragedy but in the eve of almost every post-1969 election — with the exception of 2004 — similar reminders have been heard.

 

In a month before the 2008 elections, MCA deputy minister Chew Mei Fun reminded the Chinese about the “1969 lesson”.

COUNTDOWN FOR A NEW PM BEGINS

Nawawi Mohamad

If UMNO-BN had lost in the recent GE-13, Najib would have just a few things to worry about, such as how to step down gracefully as the UMNO president, what will become of his family’s business empire and how prepare himself to face the worst possible repercussions from the Altantuya murder and Scorpene corruption cases.

However after winning the 13th general election through dubious means, Najib now faces a myriad of issues that he can no longer resolve by himself. Obviously, the most challenging task is to stay in power because the precedent has been set that if there is poor showing in a general election, the UMNO president has to go. Someone else will be found to replace him, just as he had replaced his predecessor Abdullah Badawi.

Lies, damned lies and statistics

Ramesh Rajaratnam

We must thank Mark Twain for his foresight. After my article on May 9 in Malaysiakini on the distorted voting system in Malaysia, I received numerous feedback but two main questions debated were:

1) Why did I not exclude the 800,000 Mykad holders in Sabah in my analysis; and

2) Many believe that if I had factored in this “questionable votes” in my estimates, the outcome of the GE13 would have been different.

Firstly, I would like to say that my analysis and the resultant hypotheses are based on the information from the public domain. I did not “audit” the SPR’s results according to generally accepted auditing standards in Malaysia, as I certainly do not have the access, means and resources to do so.

Playing the BN blame game

Stephen Doss

If BN does not change, it can then expect to continue its free fall and they should not be surprised if their share of the popular votes keep dwindling.

There is a tendency after every election for winners to amplify their wins and take sole credit for their performance, and for losers to find convenient scapegoats.

It would be easy for anyone to look at the results of the 13th general election and classify the winners as Barisan Nasional and the losers as Pakatan Rakyat. Not so.

In actual fact there is much more for Pakatan Rakyat to be happy about than the Barisan Nasional, for one they are riding an uptrend in terms of total number of votes received, not to mention an increase in the number of seats both at the parliamentary and the state.

Record crowd throngs Penang’s Black 505 rally

Susan Loone

The sleepy town of Batu Kawan, tucked away in the southern corridor of Penang, came alive last night when thousands, dressed in black, made their way to the stadium for the second leg of Pakatan Rakyat’s Black 505 rally.

Held three days after 120,000 people showed up for a similar rally in Kuala Lumpur, Penang drew an equally large crowd, who were joined by those from two neighbouring states – Kedah and Perak.

There were also participants from Selangor and Negri Sembilan as well, who waved their state flags incessantly amidst Pakatan’s rocket (DAP), moon (PAS) and eye (PKR) symbols.

Taking back our democracy post-GE13

Dennis Ignatius

Former US vice-president Al Gore said recently that “American democracy has been hijacked”. He said his country needs to wake up to the special interests that have a grip on the levers of power.

The same could well be said about Malaysia, following the 13th general election.

There can be little doubt that there was widespread electoral fraud during the elections. The Election Commission’s much touted indelible ink, for example, turned out to be a joke. The only indelible stain, as far as most Malaysians are concerned, is on the reputation and credibility of the EC itself.

Until these reports are properly and transparently investigated and put to rest, it is reasonable for Malaysians to question the validity of the elections and the continuing legitimacy of the BN government. Clearly, BN has lost the support and confidence of the majority of Malaysians.

Fight the good fight

Christine SK Lai

I guess we should have seen it coming. Sigh.

The homo sapiens species is notoriously difficult to satisfy and very easily agitated when things don’t swing our way (and I am not talking about women).

The mother of all elections has come and gone. The day after, I saw a man dismantling election banners and flags on my way home from work. The odd thing was, he was only removing the paraphernalia of a certain party – the one which lost in his constituency. My, my, division even trickles down to removal of rubbish nowadays! Anyhow, whilst I anticipate our roads will look nice, clean and orderly again soon, that can’t be said about the state of affairs in our land. It looks like the dust isn’t settling at all; on the contrary it’s being stirred and swept up to create even more storms and tsunamis; wonder what we will call the next one?? Both sides of the political divide are unhappy; one cries foul, the other finds fault and makes excuse.

Reflections on GE13

SV Song

I’m not angry because you retained a simple majority to form the government. Given that you’ve been in power for the past 56 years, I didn’t expect your opponents to easily overcome all the advantages you’ve built into the system like the gerrymandering, an election commission which answers to the PM’s office, and your control of mainstream media. I’m not even all that angry that you managed to form the government while losing the popular vote. This situation is not unique to our country, and no election process is foolproof.

I’m angry at how far you went in your bid to ‘win at all costs’. Unidentified voters arriving by the busloads, ballot boxes falling out of helicopters, chartered flights ferrying phantoms to different parts of the country, mysterious blackouts and disrupted telephone lines, ballot boxes appearing at opportune moments, cash handouts near voting centres – all at the expense of Malaysian taxpayers.

Fault lies with BN

Jeswan Kaur

The question that BN has to earnestly ponder is – why have the rakyat given up on it?

Over five decades of leading the country, ruling coalition Barisan Nasional has paid no heed to the trials and tribulations that had come its way; instead, BN was never big on hindsight, resulting in it paying a heavy price for the unwillingness to change with the times.

BN fall from grace came in 2008 when in the 12th general election it was knocked out from retaining a two-third majority by the opposition under the Pakatan Rakyat banner.

Five years later, in the 13th general election, BN fared even worse. While it won 133 out of 222 federal seats, still short of a two-third majority, it also lost seven more federal states and the popular votes.

Why the ‘urban tsunami’ stopped at the coast

Keruah Usit

Why did rural Sarawakians and Sabahans stay with BN, while their urban counterparts voted overwhelmingly for change? 

BN’s strategy of harping on ethnic insecurities made no impact in Borneo, yet BN won 48 of 57 parliamentary seats in Sabah, Labuan and Sarawak.

In Sarawak, even allowing for electoral fraud, it was clear that the “urban tsunami” stopped at the coastal towns of Kuching, Sarikei, Sibu and Miri.

Rural Sarawakians have been denigrated as “squatters” on their own land. 

The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for Both Coalitions

Lim Teck Ghee

Finally the general election is over. For politicians and analysts, the work of number crunching, deciphering the results and trying to understand the choices made by voters is just beginning.

Some conclusions are easy to arrive at. Firstly, despite a skewed electoral playing ground and the rolling out of more than RM2.6 billion worth of financial and other incentives to voters, the BN could not improve on its 2008 performance. Although it regained power in one state and has a comfortable majority at parliamentary level, its share of state and parliamentary seats has been substantially reduced. Had a fair election prevailed, it would have been consigned to the opposition benches. In fact BN lost the popular vote count by a substantial margin nation-wide. In most if not all electoral systems found in the world, it would have been booted out of office. In our case, it came dangerously close to it.