The MCA Art of Deception

When it’s announced that I shall be standing in Raub, MCA mouthpieces made a big case out of some opposition to my candidacy. I don’t have to explain to MCA about what happened in Raub; the way they want to interpret the issue, should be grounds for them to expect an easy win then. Isn’t it good for them? I have already written- if my opponent is Dato Ho Khai Mun  , he is nice fellow. Let’s do battle in a civilized manner.If Khai Mun endorses this underhand tactic, I will be forced to reevaluate my perception of him as a gentleman.

Suddenly I am accused of being an extremist because it seems, I have demanded the government cease to fund Chinese schools. It’s impossible for me to have said that, because I have always maintained that language is an integral part of one’s culture that can never be destroyed. And when the Chinese see Chinese schools as the last bastion for safeguarding their culture, only supremacists would want to abolish it. It is impossible for me to quarrel with that.I am a democrat not a supremacist.

But let me turn the tables on them;  if only now that MCA raises this issue, this is another proof that the Chinese must REJECT MCA totally. They have not been vigilant in looking out for Chinese interest. Why support a Chinese party that is keener to play Uncle Tom to UMNO?

If I have said that when I was in UMNO, why didn’t the MCA stand up? Ti Lian ker or Ho Khai MUn would certainly pounce on me. Chua Soi Lek was brave to call an UMNO assemblyman mad when the latter proposed the adoption of Islamic law which has nothing to do with the Chinese. If I had said something that affects the Chinese directly, why didn’t the MCA protest vociferously?

The fact is, I did not even say that. Please show me the article and I will be glad to lecture the MCA people who raised the issue, a thing or two about comprehension. We learn this at Old School didn’t we? Two years ago, I think I wrote something asking where have all the Chinese children gone when enrolling in standard one?  In one school in Galing Kuantan, I did not see Chinese children. So I offered my opinion.

To the Chinese, education has always been top priority otherwise how do you explain the voracious appetite of Chinese parents sending their children for all sorts of tuition? The refusal of Chinese parents in sending their children to National Schools is a searing indictment on the government on its abject failure to provide a good education system. Our schools are underequipped, staffed by inadequately trained teachers and most important of all fail consistently to provide good results. As a result, Chinese prefer to send children to Chinese schools where they produce superior results.

I said, if the government had succeeded in providing top class education in national schools, Chinese parents will be tripping over each other to send their children to the best schools. When this happens, Chinese medium schools will be less preferred. Government schools must still provide POL.

Now, can we understand the issue? Now let’s get back to the core issues.

The time to criticize the government is over. Now it is up for the people to judge without interference.  We know this. The majority is shouting ini kalilah. Beginning in Sabah, it has now spread all over Malaysia. Most of the Chinese visiting their ancestral graves the last two days, were saying ini kalilah. yes, please maintain that thought . if not you will be dihonouring the memory of your ancestors. please remember there is a leader from UMNO questioning the legality of your ancestors' citizenship. kick out the government. 
This is the time for us to leave darkness toward a real brighter future.

What kind of future? It is a future of good government. A good government made up of dedicated, committed and selfless individuals who put the interest of the people and country first. It is a government upholding the rule of law. It’s the rule of law that gives protection to the people from the rapaciousness and deception of BN leaders.

It will be a government where due empowerment is given to the institutions that safeguard democracy and to institutions that run the administration professionally.Start by rejecting representatives that behave like monkeys in parliament and the state assemblies.

It will be a government that re-establishes the civil service as a paragon for providing professional service free from corruption to the people. It will be a government where the judiciary will be independent and where aggrieved citizens seek justice and relief. It will not be a government where the judiciary serves the interests of the select few. The institutions that serve to provide citizens security from domestic and external threats must be allowed to operate independently and professionally.

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General Election and a Fighting State of MInd.

When is the next GE?

That is the question on everyone’s mind.  Many people say, he will announce dissolution today. Cabinet members are asked to come in full lounge suits with red tie and the usual protruding handkerchief. To some people- running a government is indeed like going to a dinner party, all dressed up, like drinking Darjeeling tea and making embroidery. It’s a simple request- let’s take a picture together because some of us may not be contesting and maybe this is the last BN cabinet team.

You must understand a little bit of the psychological make-up of Najib. He is an aristocrat with a feudal constitution. He likes being waited on, his hands kissed and hordes of people waiting for him at the airport, ladies with bunga manggar and maybe ululating. (The typical high pitched shrills let out by Arab women when receiving guests). And I would always joke with friends, after decades of being the MP for Pekan, not possible for Najib to not know the way how to get to Pekan. He does not need direction finders.

Once I was with JJ, now serving as Najib’s invisible major domo- aka in- house chief Mr Fix It, he told me- the problem with you (me) is that you don’t treat Najib as an aristocrat. He is you know, and we are knaves. Of course I let out some expletives and told JJ, only you can do that, I cant. Why should we I said, he’s more stupid that we, you want us to act like knaves. We both laughed loudly.

When friends told me elections will be early march, I said it will not be. because at the end of march, I told them there will be LIMA in Langkawi. Najib will not dissolve parliament before that because he will not want to attend LIMA as head of a caretaker government. Najib will want the psychological boost that comes along with being a fully legitimate and in-term PM. No caretaker stuff for him. His feudal upbringing will not tolerate that.

I wasn’t aware that at the end of April, there is one other important event which the PM wants to attend to affirm his legitimacy. That is the ASEAN Summit. Will feudal Najib want to attend as head of caretaker government? My reading says, he will not want to. He wants to go as a fully legitimate and in-term PM.

In other words, Naib may attend the summit for a brief time sufficient to establish his presence, have a photography session and then cut short the attendance, citing certain domestic obligations to come back and dissolve parliament. Parliament will dissolve sometime just before 28 April.

Najib and also Rosmah will not want to miss the glamour and prestige that come along being present as PM and first Lady at the Asean Summit.

Mental Frame of doing battle in Pahang.

Last year, when Pahang announced that it has achieved a balanced budget I was perplexed. When I was ADUN (2004-2008) I did not miss any opportunity after Budget speech each year to raise the issue of deficit budget. I know the reasons how and why deficits can be explained and was willing to accept there are justifiable reasons. But I never fail to mention my concern that budget deficits may hide financial indiscipline and even misdeeds. So my attitude at deficit budgets is always to be circumspect about it. My detractors can always check the Pahang Assembly’s Hansard to verify my speeches following the state’s Budget Speech.

As to the sudden Balanced Budget after, I don’t know- 15^th consecutive deficit budgets? - Pleasant surprise would be a gross understatement. I wrote an article, I thought I know the reason for the balanced budget and would have thought someone in the Pahang Assembly will debate this issue. Unfortunately, I did not hear anything.

Serupa sahaja- deficit budget would have been dismissively explained as being the product of the government spending on welfare and on poor people. In the past, I have invited colleagues to be rational- look at how big is the percentage being committed to helping the poor and welfare and see whether the percentage can justify and explain the deficit budget.

When I was ADUN, deficit budgets have been incurred probably for the last 13 or 14 years. Suddenly, Pahang achieved a balance budget. Surely that would have raised alarm bells of suspicion. If I were in the Dewan, I would have raised the issue, maybe in subdued terms but no less critical and candid, but will raise it anyway.

I would immediately suspect the figures have been massaged so as to show financial prudence on the part of the state government and a desire to show the public, we can achieve balance budget.

True enough I was later dismayed to hear, the state government asked for approval of a supplementary budget to ask more money and asked for approval of a bill allowing the state government to borrow directly from banks and financial institutions. Why was the supplementary budget necessary had the original budget been carefully planned to achieve a balance budget? Why was a bill approved to confer to the state government authority to borrow directly from banks and financial institutions?

This mental preparation- appreciating the usefulness of exercising scepticism and even cynicism, will now allow me to do battle in my home state.

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Its P080 for me. Raub here we come.

Just a short one. I want to thank all well-wishers who sent in their comments when they heard it officially. I will contest in Raub Pahang as the DAP’s parliamentary candidate. To my detractors and those who opposed, it should be all right for them as I am a nobody and a has been.

It’s not going to be an easy task. If Ng Yen Yen stands again, she is a formidable opponent with vast resources at her command. It will not be easy for me to take on her six RM300, 000 each Facebook site. Plus she can muster all the expensive billboards and electronic advertising gadgetry.  And her Gangnam style moves are hard to beat too.

If her place is taken over by the Pahang MCA chief, I have no ill words for him. He too shall be a good opponent. Let’s do battle as civilized combatants.

I will do my best to win Raub for DAP. And I promise not to cut anyone’s ears even if he dares people to do so.

With support from friends and comrades and the people of Raub, I believe we can take this one. Thank you very much.

Bahasa Melayu.

Hanya suatu catatan rengkas. Saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada mereka yang telah mengucap tahniah dan selamat maju jaya kepada saya. Saya akan bertanding atas tiket DAP untuk kawasan P080 Parlimen Raub.

Ianya bukan suatu tugasan yang mudah. Jika Dr Ng Yen Yen bertanding semula, dia adalahlah lawan yang hebat dengan sumber2 pertandingan yang tidak terhad. Saya akan berdepan dengan kesukaran berlawan dengan 6 Facebook dia yang bernilai RM300,000 satu. Dia ada facebook system yang bernilai RM1.8 juta! Apatah lagi Yen Yen boleh memanfaatkan billboard elektronik yang mahal dan lain2 alatan. Kemudian, gerak Gangnam dia sukar ditandingi.

Jika tempat dia diganti oleh Pengerusi MCA Pahang- kawan saya, saya tidak ada kata2 kesat untuk dia. Marilah kita bertanding secara beradab.

Saya akan cuba sedaya upaya untuk memenangi kerusi ini bagi DAP dan PR. Dengan sokongan kawan2 dan pengundi, saya yakin kita akan berjaya.

Terima kasih.

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Promise Broken, Najib and Big Government

It’s not a big deal, BN delays the elections.  Even if some state legislative assemblies expire naturally. It is permissible under our laws. When assemblies expire, we have 60 days to hold election. Najib the UMNO president waits until he sees he has strategic advantages. He sees whether (1) all the money is in (2) he sorts out the candidates (3) phantom voters are strategically placed (4) must ensure that his people outnumber Muhyiddin’s. and most important of all (5) not before he has inked some juicy agreements at LIMA. But when sending our military boys to Lahad Datu, we didn’t have military transport planes!

Then he holds elections. He will dissolve parliament in April. He has run out of time and must make the most of it, ready or not. Ready or not, he can’t avoid the inevitable defeat of UMNO. It’s UMNO- the rest of the gang is almost finished. Kaveas can give guarantees about the number of votes he can deliver. Najib likes that kind of pandering. Kaveas is an unrepentant rah rah boy.

Tun Daim must be recoiling with embarrassment; his attempts to shore up support for Najib and UMNO come a little too late and too little. Except for the jubilation from the UMNO yahoo boys and the usual suspects, reception to his interviews was lukewarm and in general, indifferent.

The UMNO people must have skins as thick as a rhino. Daim’s predictions and thoughts were dismissed with impunity in 2008. He was called a person past shelf life, a pensioner and a tattered Quran. A tattered Quran is not readable any longer, but to throw it away is sinful. So it’s usually wrapped up nicely in cloth and stored at a high place in the house.

Daim was like an Old Quran- to read is impossible but to throw it away is sinful. So why should any attention be placed by UMNO people on what Daim said? Has he been resurrected and will now reveal himself more often to his UMNO apostles? Holy Mother of Jesus!

Much mountain has been made of the molehill interviews with Tun Daim by several newspapers. The UMNO people and its supporters are going to town painting it red celebrating Daim’s somewhat taciturn endorsement of Najib. Why taciturn?

It’s an endorsement more based on normative thinking. This means, Daim says something that ought to be. His predictions are based on what UMNO people want Daim to say. It’s not based on positive thinking arising from factual observations.

When Daim told me that he is going to give some interviews to the papers, I said surely you are asked to give endorsements to Najib. And he said- that’s what they want me to do, so I do lah. But I give them so many caveats and am sure, these UMNO people won’t bother about them. They just want to listen to the win part.

And Daim this time has either been out of touch or because of rightly reading the Richter scale is forced to redeem the situation by giving misleading answers. His interviews are damage control coming in too little too late.

The Daim in the Sunday Times Interview isn’t the Daim whose thought process I personally know since 2008. I cannot reconcile his position from Najib does not have what it takes to run this country to Najib is more fitted to be the PM of this country. Duplicitous and double talk from the wily Daim? Or consternations from a man picturing the defeat of UMNO come to reality?

Especially on Daim’s endorsement of Najib as more preferable than Anwar Ibrahim. That was his personal opinion which has to be validated by the people in the 13^th GE. But it was also an indirect acknowledgement that the other possible candidate for PM is Anwar Ibrahim. That- given the stock of information and knowledge that he has.

Daim’s rejection of Anwar is primarily based on that nebulous perception of Anwar being unfit. Unfit because of what? Because of personal knowledge about Anwar’s private life? Actual or some forced truths based on personal animosities toward Anwar the man?

Daim hides what he hasn’t revealed in the interview by saying Anwar will follow the dictates of America, IMF and World Bank. Well, most of the countries that followed variants of what America, IMF and World Bank proposed have done better than Malaysia. Isn’t Najib doing the same thing- wasting no time in kowtowing to America and doing all he can to ingratiate himself to America? Najib is Uncle Tom to other Uncle Toms.

Is Najib more morally acceptable than Anwar in terms of whatever measures one defines as being fit for office? Because when it comes to dalliances of the sexual nature, Najib isn’t that far down the scale compared to anyone including Anwar.

That can a subject of an interesting and extended debate, which I am not going to play host on.

How much credence do we then attach to Daim’s revelations through his snapshot interviews? I say snapshot because the journalists from NST and Utusan Malaysia and several other Chinese papers meet Daim- what? Once a year or maybe once every 2 years?  Now compare what I can say about Daim’s thinking as though it’s a video play and the interviews given by the papers which we can regard as still photos.

I want to say it as a matter of factly- I meet Daim on a regular basis since 2008. On average maybe once a month. Since the last 3 months, I have not met him because either Daim is recuperating from an illness (which he doesn’t want to divulge) or he has been on extended trips overseas. I met him again on the 23^rd of March 2013, on Saturday at his office in Jalan Syed Putera, formerly known as Lornie Road, I think.

I want to invite readers to decode what Daim actually meant.

How can anyone justify supporting UMNO and BN? Supporting it means we move nearer to statism. That is not good.

Why? Because Najib the wimp wants to own the state believing that his government should control either economic or social policy, or both. That was why a few days ago, he was asking for more power. Why should we give him that power so that the elite will continue to plunder and pillage the country? He wants a totalitarian state.

Needle him on this. He was lying to us all this while. You will remember that when he took over from Abdulla Badawi he proclaimed that the age of big government that knows best is over. He is a bloody cheat. Why is he giving all the BR1Ms and showering everyone with money? So that he can buy a Big Government.

A few days ago, the Star newspaper on its front page used hand signs to explain the reasons for Najib postponing elections. Ironically that symbolises how the government looks at all of us- dumb mutes communicable only with hand signals.

A vote for UMNO means, giving power to another Mahathir clone using political power to force policy on a resisting society. By now, we know we are a resisting society. 3.7 million Malay voters out of 5.7 million Malay voters resisted UMNO in 2008. UMNO lost in Peninsula Malaysia and was saved by the passive society in East Malaysia. Now East Malaysians are awoken by the overweening state power asked for by Najib. We must resist him. 85% of the non-Malays especially the Chinese are rejecting UMNO.

What Najib wants is to enforce UMNO’s brand of authoritarianism on us and will legislate or enforce morality and cultural practices. He and UMNO will big-brother us all. The ideology of statism holds that sovereignty is not vested in the people but in the state. This is why Najib must have a big government. He wants absolute power. He wants to wield authoritarian powers. He believes that all individuals exist only to enhance the power, prestige and well-being of the state. So, we have ‘we love PM’ everywhere. Even the UMNO people feel uncomfortable with Najib’s cultish style. Even in campaign style, it is Najib who faithfully follows and apes America.

Once he gets absolute political power, Najib will muscle in into the economy. He will continue what Mahathir has always done which is to ensure the state has a major and unbridled role in directing the economy. That is big government in the economy.  

The people, especially the pliant Malays who have been brainwashed by UMNO for ever so long, will lap up the Najib’s government knows best. Najib will carry out the agenda of more plundering and pillaging, more cherry picking and harvesting of the low hanging fruits either directly through state-owned enterprises and other types of machinery of government, or indirectly through economic planning.

Under Najib’s vision, contrary to what he promised there will be large amounts of government intervention, regulation or influence in the economy. Is that good? Of course not because it will allow Najib and his gang to steal and plunder in the name of the people. He will do these surreptitiously through close doors and hides behind the techniques known as closed or selective tender to rob Malaysia. Then we have another 1000 Puspahanas, another 1000 Scorpene , another 1000 UMNO- driven costing of projects.

All done in the name of the people.  

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