There is talk that the Kinta Valley will be the valley of death for Barisan Nasional.
Zahid is comfortable with the level of support from the Malays and the Indian community. In the past, especially in 2008, Malay support was rather fragmented. They didn't place much importance on voting. They (Malays) took polling for granted. They were of the perception that Barisan was going to win anyhow, but they have learnt a valuable lesson the Indians will all always vote for their Malay masters
The Indian community is in the news again in the run-up to the forthcoming 13th General Election. They are caught between voting against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), as in 2008, and voting for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) at the forthcoming 13th GE.
The crux of the Indian plight in Malaysia is that the community has been effectively disenfranchised since independence in 1957, but this fact has yet to be acknowledged by all as being at the root of all evil for the community in Malaysia.
(Malaysiana: Indians in a plight – stateless, voiceless, poor and under siege by the state, Malays have a dilemma — in power since 1957 including colonizing Sabah and Sarawak but unable to ever better the Chinese — Chinese have a paradox — richer than others and getting richer but still 2nd class citizens).
Mother of all Evils – not even one Indian seat
The Indian community, despite having nearly one million of their numbers on the electoral rolls, doesn’t have even one state or parliamentary seat. Therein lies the mother of all evils.
Sabah in contrast with 800,000 voters has 60 state seats and 26 parliamentary seats including Labuan – still not enough given the size of the state vis a vis Malaya and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement but that – imbalance – is not the issue here and will have to be taken up separately.
Meanwhile, the 6,000-odd overwhelmingly Malay voters in Putrajaya have a seat in Parliament. In short, 6,000 have a voice in Parliament vs one million left voiceless.
Likewise, there are many other Putrajayas in Malaysia – none non-Malay needless to say — where the number of voters on the electoral rolls numbers anything between 5,000 and 15, 000.
It’s these Putrajayas, it has been reckoned, which will ensure that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) can win at least 112 parliamentary seats at the forthcoming General Election, the 13th, and with just 19 per cent or 1.89 million of the votes cast out of 10-million odd (2008 figure) and go on to form the Federal Government with a simple majority.
BN doesn’t need Indian votes
So, the BN in fact can afford to sit pretty and doesn’t need to bother with the Indian votes which would be a bonus if and when they come in.
Indian voters can be pawned off with crumbs and shameless excuses pending the Final Solution.
Umno after having neutralized, isolated and marginalized the Indians through disenfranchisement and other aspects of criminalization of the state apparatus is currently set to “eliminate and exterminate” the community – including thorough Islamisation and the Syariah Court – and ultimately wipe them off the face of the Earth as a community in Malaysia.
The stages, to recap: criminalization, demonization, dehumanization, neutralization, isolation, marginalisation, “elimination and, finally, extermination”. Already, the civil service has been “ethnically cleansed” of Indians to a great extent.
This is Umno’s Final Solution to deal with the “Indian problem in Malaysia” before turning its attention to the bigger “Chinese problem”. The latter involves, as a first step, persuading them to stop eating pork if possible and stop them talking incessantly about mother tongue education after pawning them off with excuses after excuses since 1957.
One thing at a time. The Malay-led Peninsular Malaysia-based national Opposition knows the score and is crying foul even before the 13th GE as seen in its backing for the Bersih movement which is screaming itself hoarse for free and fair elections.
Indians need free and fair elections the most
Bersih, however, is all about the Opposition coming to power despite an Indian face, and doesn’t see that it’s the Indians more than anybody else who need free and fair elections. So why should the Elections Commission care about the Indians?
Instead, there’s much hot air being ventilated on “inclusiveness” to bring the Indians into the mainstream so that they can get an identity – think stateless – and enjoy the fruits of development and materialism.
This will never happen in a million years.
One of the most pathetic excuses until of late was that the ruling party must not be seen among the Malays as giving in too much to the Indians.
How does giving in too much arise when even the little that the Indians have are being taken away from them as evident in the legal and medical professions, to cite two bastions of Indian dominance?
Nevertheless, the battle lines have been drawn in a new struggle by both sides of the political divide for Indian votes, especially those in the critical 67 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia where the community decides.
Both sides are taking and/or have taken their respective positions.
The Opposition needs Indian votes to come to power.
The BN doesn’t need Indian votes to stay in power but would definitely need them to win back its coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament.
The Final Solution proverbial Sword of Damocles
Besides, even if it can’t woo back the Indians, the BN wants to ensure the community does not vote for the Opposition. It may do this by placing a “moratorium” on the Final Solution and using this as the proverbial Sword of Damocles.
Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, demonstrating that old habits die hard, and to reiterate, is into even more hype than usual, cosmetics, gimmicks and propaganda in his bid to woo Indian votes as a bonus.
We don’t hear this time the usual Umno line that nothing can be given to the Indians lest the Malays complain, whatever that means, and lest the ruling coalition lose their (Malay) votes. But it was okay in the past to deny the Indians and even take away from them what little that they had accumulated through centuries of hard work.
So, generous allocations are being announced this time by Najib for the Indian community but with very little indication that such funds have indeed been released.
The 90 per cent Malay majority civil service, indoctrinated by the racist Biro Tata Negara set up by Mahathir Mohamad when he was Prime Minister, will never release any funds to the Indian community, and if at all, in bits and pieces and grudgingly to MIC leaders only.
In any case, it’s a case of too little too late.
BN’s old song was Indian votes don’t matter
Umno’s tragedy is that it didn’t realise how important Indian votes were until the 2008 General Elections when 85 per cent of the Indian votes and most of the 67 parliamentary seats and related state seats fell to the Opposition. This was confirmed by MIC President S. Samy Vellu in a recent interview.
Samy’s excuse was that he tried his best to bring up Indian issues before the Federal Cabinet but was routinely brushed aside — “Indian votes don’t matter” – and convinced that he could not do anything for his disenfranchised countrymen, he focused on the next best objective: at least getting his share of the crumbs from the Umno table.
He did distribute some of these crumbs to the people around him. There was not enough to go around and so he faced numerous challenges to his crown all under the guise of working for the betterment of the Indian community.
MIC getting carried away by its propaganda on “returning” Indians
Post-Samy MIC, in publicly consoling themselves, keeps self-servingly repeating that Indians are returning to the BN. Their latest figures put Indian support for BN at 65 per cent but obviously such a high figure is a figment of their imagination.
If 65 per cent, the BN in that case should have no problems in wresting back many of the 67 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia where Indians decide and which fell to the Opposition.
The party attributes the return of the Indians to the community being convinced by Najib’s leadership especially after he asked them for their nambikei (trust in Tamil) and vishwas (trust in Punjabi) in him.
Najib’s Indian vocabulary either ran out after that or he doesn’t know or care that other Indians exist as well in the country. These include Malayalees, Sinhalese, Telugus, Gujeratis, Sindhis, Bengalis, Pathans and Gurkhas, among others. These smaller groups, unlike the Tamils, are almost wholly urban.
Votes from smaller communities can make a big difference
All things being equal, the major communities being equally united and divided, a manageable 1, 500 to 3, 500 votes in a seat from one of these smaller communities can spell the respectable difference between victory and defeat in a cliff-hanger.
The Tamils, like the Malays and Chinese, may be too large in numbers to unite under one platform.
However, the Chinese proved this theory wrong by uniting under the Dap in 2008 and show no signs of splintering again, it’s still 50 : 50 whether the Tamils will follow suit as in 2008, while the Malays will definitely prove the theory right as in 2008 when they will continue to remain with four political parties i.e. Umno, PKR, Pas and Dap.
Again, the Indians and Tamils in particular, are not in sufficient numbers to play the numbers game unlike the Chinese and Malays. The Malays can in fact split three ways and still stay in the political reckoning across both sides of the political divide.
Indian champions such as the newly-formed Indian Rights Action Force or INDRAF are left to wrestle “heroically” with Indian issues – a lonely cry in the political wilderness and facing any number of traitors willing to sell their souls to the devil himself for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver.
Click on image for larger view.Defence Minister, you right? You said that Ketuanan Melayu is 'still relevant' if it is aimed at improving the lifestyle of the Malay community as a whole. Are you admitting that UMNO had failed them these past 54 years?"Quoting former prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, Ahmad Zahid noted that every other race living in the country had accepted that this country "is originally a Malay country"."We can accept ketuanan melayu but how about an indonesian become malaysian citizen compare with me born here and my father too born here and contributed before and after merdeka but this guy getting malay previllage? we must define who should accord malay rights! to me malay rights belong to the malays leaving in this country many generations, or atleast before my grandfather step in to Malaysia this country is originally a Orang Asli country. Malay comes later. Then other races come together to build Malaysia as what we're known now. To talk about Malaysia only belong to Malay is racist and totally against 1Malaysia spirit.There is a distinct difference UMNO malays, the idiotic supreme owners and rulers of my nation and the ordinary malays. All UMNO malays spew nonsense and divided the malays and all other Malaysians. Time to get them out for ........ to regain their dignity.
The rest of the rakyat are suffering high cost of living, substandard social services a weak currency against the increasing national debt which will eventually fall on the rakyat’s lap and the final outcome will be similar to what Greece and some of the European countries are going through now. When the country’s natural resources run dry we will be in serious trouble cos our manufacturing and services sector is weakening year after year due to competition from our neighbours. Another factor drainage of our currency due to Foreign workers repatriating their earning into their converted currency. The ringgit may be currently be cornered by speculators. When they dump it or short sell then our currency will experience the same thing that we experienced in 1997. Obviously, Zahid Hamidi does not accept the real history but is only quoting the UMNO doctored history. If he says that "every other race living in the country had accepted that this country "is originally a Malay country". He is grossly wrong. The early UMNO party members forced the British hand to put it into the original constitution that malays are backward and need to be given some handicap to catch up with other races in economic and social development. This the chinese and indians agreed upon until malays have found their footing. However, Razak and subsequently others twisted the interpretation of the Constitution to create a UMNOputra class of malays who helped themselves to the cake with Mamak going a step further to use the 2/3 majority he had with the help of MCA, MIC and other subservient parties in BN to exploit all races including malays and enrich themselves and their cronies... UMNO has to stop living in the past and look at the future. Should we forever be a Malay, Chinese or Indian country? If not, when should be start extricating ourselves from such divisive identity if not now? Everyday delayed is not just another day of abuse of power and rampant corruption in the name of privileges, but another day Malaysia slips behind as the rest of our neighbours, nevermind the world, move forward to seize their day in the sun. We Malaysians must shed our communal differences, be confident and proud that all it takes is hard work to be successful, and not skin colour or religion or aristocratic class, and forge ahead. Current federal leaders who do not appreciate our potential to conquer the world in arts and sciences should be left behind to bite dust in the wake of our forward stampede.
Mahathir a pathetic racist, a tribal leader exploiting the fear and insecurity of Malaysians,
You talked about bangsa Malaysia when you were in pedestal of power. All the businessmen praised you and worshipped you because you gave them unfettered profits at the expense of the public.
Then the 308 (March 8, 2008) came, and what are you now? A pathetic racist, a tribal leader exploiting the fear and insecurity of Malaysians, not unlike those in Perkasa. Get the picture?
Here are five easy steps on how to become a dictator:
1) Decimate all your political opponents and potential opponents so that you have no successors.
2) Destroy all public institutions and ombudsman that are capable of questioning your actions.
3) Use Christians, non-Muslims and non-Malays as bogeymen so that the Malays are also fearful of being undermined and hence support you without question.
4) Once you have accomplished 1,2 and 3, plunder the country's wealth and resources and in the process create a graft food chain with your cronies.
5) Voila, you are officially a dictator with absolute power and plenty of money.
Mahathir, you were a dictator successfully masquerading as a pseudo democrat.
You bastardised and subvert every democratic institution in the country so that no one can oppose you or those who still have the guts to go against you, you throw them in jail using draconian laws.
You cheated in every election to ensure a two-thirds majority so that the opposition remained toothless. On the surface, democracy seems to be working in the country, but the irony of all ironies was that you deviously used the democratic processes to ensure that absolute power rest in your hands.
You ruled by law and have no respect for the rule of law. That is a hallmark of a dictator. You did that so successfully for 22 years just as you successfully hide the fact that you are not a true blue Malay.
Mahathir was a dictator who faked himself as a Malay to entrap Umno Malays to worship him as their saviour.used the NEP (New Economic Policy) and plundered the wealth of the nation and the national coffers for his family and cronies. Public utility services were privatised and awarded to cronies.
changed the protection of public interest into the protection of cronies' profit. He introduced SA (Official Secrets Act) so that nobody could question his plundering of the nation's wealth. He utilised ISA to put his political opponents behind bars.terrorised and removed judges who interpreted laws not in his favour. He even curtailed powers of the rulers who obstructed his ways.
watch National Geographic, you will see some animals which are so good at disguise that you will hardly notice them, at least not until it is too late for the preys.Probably it's same with some dictators, who can (especially if they control the information about what people see of them, hear from them and about them) build a good disguise or cover to appear differently. is only after they leave and/or much damage done that the people realise what a bad leader they had. Of course, if you ask any dictator, he is not going to admit it. The wily ex-PM aka dinosaur strikes again. This time asking sarcastically what makes him a dictator. Of course, when you compare the likes of Saddam Hussein, Benito Mussolini, Hosni Mubarak and Hitler, you look like a saint.let's play devil's advocate here: if you're not a dictator, why is Malaysia lagging behind its competitors in the global market? Why do we have chronic brain drain among the intellectuals? Why does race-based politics still dominant here? are a dictator by deceit. Plain and simple. You used other people to do your dirty deeds and claim innocence.
You publicly humiliated your own deputy on TV and gave explicit consent to him being unlawfully detained, interrogated, beaten half to death and charged over a crime so pathetic it made this country a laughing stock of the world.
You may not behave like a normal dictator but your past actions were enough to justify that label. You had a chance to be a statesman, sadly you squandered it big time.
Not Confused: Witness that Mahathir was PM for well over 20 years. How can this be when compared with other real democracies where the government and PM change every few years.
Mahathir manipulated the entire country - from the cabinet to the civil servants and NGOs, etc. He then stifled and repressed any opposition by subtle means, to the point where we today have a muzzled press, subservient ‘partners' in the BN coalition, lemming-like civil servants and neutered students who have little or no ability to discuss and debate.
The only change is that we now have a stronger opposition - an opposition that is more than capable of taking over from the bankrupt BN regime, a regime of Mahathir's making.
Wikipedia under 'dictators', classifies 'Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia' as a 'contitutional dictator'. He shares this title with Mubarak, Marcos, Ayub Khan, Mugabe etc.
Other types of dictatorships are - military dictatorship, communist dictatorship, Gadaffism, Fujimorism, fascist military dictatorism, etc. We have Mahathirism as a distinct style.
History will not remember him kindly and he can do nothing about that, no matter what acrimonious tantrum he now throws.
Mahathir commented that Mubarak's political enemies were frequently arrested, detained without trial and in many cases, they simply disappeared.
"There was no freedom of expression or a free press... Anyone can be appointed by Mubarak to be a minister. They can also be sacked at any time."thought he was talking about himself again.
There is a saying "give him enough rope, he'll hang himself". Mahathir is doing a good job in character assassination - his own character that is.saying what the rest of us are thinking about him. Quite sad when someone does not retire gracefully.
Dr M, you ask for proof - here it is clearly an autocrat dictator
The people must maintain their courage to speak out against evil governance, even if it is coming from a new government like Pakatan Rakyat, said PAS’s deputy president Mohamad Sabu. Sabu is right. Even in Pakatan, there are idiot who act like BN/UMNO. These people is mostly from PKR and DAP. Be open and transparent. Answer all critics. don't think the average Malaysian will accept any action by any Gomen even if it is PKR Gomen. Sabu said the right thing and we Malaysians shall henceforth PROTEST against ANY GOMEN or authorty who misuses its power!The righteous must prevail finally. It does not matter who runs the government as we only want the right party to be in control and can administer governance with justice, fairness, fight against grafts, corruptions., transparent, impartial on racial and communal matters, and save the country from financial crisis. Without idealism, we humans are on the same level as animals. Humans understand concepts and ideals like law and order, justice, fairness, right and wrong, equality etc. Animals dont have any inkling of such concepts and ideals. If humans are devoid of idealism they may just as well eat, sleep and procreate to ensure their species survival just like animals do. Mat Sabu rest assured that we will fight all kinds of injustice under PR governance. The raykat will not replace one black stinking pot with another. PR can be sure that people will go after PR and topple it if it does not correct all the evils of UMNOBARU, too many to list. They are well known to our people. The first comment below has very fluently explained what Malaysia expects from PR or any other govt. for that matter. If PR does not do that it will last no more than one term and will NEVER be allowed to remain in power to abuse the country and its resources as happened with UMNOBARU. I hope all other PR leaders are aware of the concerns of Sabu If we allow evil to be done against our neighbors, against people who are unlike us, against those who are weak and helpless , then eventually evil will befall us. We do not oppose because BN is the government, we do not oppose because Najib is the leader, we do not oppose because they are Malays or Muslims , we stand up and oppose because of their corruption , their hypocrisy and obsession with sex ,the misuse of power to attack people asking for free and fair elections, the cheating of people they claim to represent such as the Balik Pulau case where UMNO leaders bought Malay land cheaply and then resold it 4 months later at inflated price to a developer. That is why we oppose BN , not because of their name, not because they are the government but because of their wrongful deeds.
To save Malaysia from predator like you we are willing to go any extent.... Muhyiddin, we ARE As usual, BN politicians distorting the facts and thinking that Malaysians are idiots to believe them! The DPM has conveniently left out the diabolical role played by Harun Idris/UMNO in the May 13 riots. Thank God Malaysians have access to other more credible research besides 'government research"!uniting among ourselves and it is YOU that is disuniting us. the truth has been swept under the carpet - May 13 1969 was instigated by ruling politicians who had lost power. This arsehole is insulting our intelligence again. If Pakatan do win GE13 and become the new federal government, why would the supporters go out to create another May 13? In all likelihood, all of us will be celebrating the dawn of a new era, free from corruption and injustice. The only people I know are the sore losers in UMNO, who will turn violent and go on a rampage, and this we need to get ready for any eventuality. I am not bothered in the least if these bozos will turn violent as I am sure the arm forces will be there to protect our democracy. We have won ourselves a new found freedom and our new leaders will ensure that we stand tall once again amongst the nations of the world, not like a pariah as it is now. So why should we create havoc to turn a realised dream into a nightmare? Anymore bedtime stories, Muhyiddin? If ever there is a repeat of May 13, UMNO will be the one that starts it..... by hook or by crook Everyone with some years, grey matter and honesty knows that 513 was a bloody machination of Jibby's dad to topple TAR. Aided by scUMNO unity and MahaKutty's background demagoguery,If not for stupid politicians like you, there will never be any racial divide or issues. We rakyat are all united. So stop your nonsense and threats.
Malaysia is a house divided. It is a house divided because the decadent, corrupt UMNO continues to practice racist and religious extremist polices. When hunting dogs start to lose interest in the beast that is to be run to ground and shot, you just give them a bit of a smell to refresh their memory and appetite. When the Malay voters look like they might lose interest in the UMNO political line, you just give them a whiff of "May 13" to activate their memories and fears. Great politics! Truly, an act of real moral statesmanship! Like hell .. It misuses the mainstream media to mislead, lie, instigate and divide the people so that it can continue to remain in power for the benefit of the UMNO putra cronies . The only way this house of ours can reunite is when the bullshit and nonsense party is removed from government at the next elections Muhyiddin, you are among those who create disunity, and promote religious and cultural bigotry. You lie in saying that the opposition started the 13 May. '69 riot just as you have lied in identifying Lim Guan Eng as one of the key figures in causing it. Guan Eng was then about 8½ years old, you bloody liar.God forbid. But should there be racial disturbance again it will be the dirty work of UMNO through its gangs of the likes of Perkasa, Perkida and ultra-NGOs. This sermon from a 'Malay first, Malaysian second' DPM reeks of hypocrisy of the highest order. 2012 is not and will not be 1969. The current burgeoning Malay middle-class has too much to lose. The non-Malays, especially the Chinese are pragmatic enough not to be stupid to create trouble because they already immuned to the vicissitudes of their fortunes since Merdeka. UNMO/BN's discriminating policies favouring the UMNOPutras and BN cronies are the main cause of this divided nation and yet DPM shamelessly assign this disunity to the opposition. The May13 bogeyman has lost currency today. Rational Malaysians of all races have since moved forward except for UMNO which is bankrupt of morals and is facing a real mortal danger of being rejected by the rakyat after a long, prodigal and corrupted rule.Unite? Under UMNO/BN? That means giving power to you for another 5 years... another 5 years for you to trample on us? you must be either out of your mind or you are bankcrupt of idea. UMNO/BN loosing GE13 will be good for the country and for UMNO/BN. After loosing they will hopefully reform and also regain humility. What is the objective of all these scare mongering? First, PM accuses Bersih 3 as being communist; 2nd, Special Branch accuses JI and Communists as infiltrating PR; and now the DPM is reminding us of May 13! Is all this leading to a refusal to accept the loss of the GE13 by BN and coming out with an Emergency Declaration and a formation of a BN National Operations Council with the suspension of Parliament? The Rakyat will NOT allow this!!Crime and punishment is often talked about but corruption is punishment is seldom being heard. Most of the time we hear about scam and corruption but punishment is rare of the rarest. If at all punishment is being meted out its only to some low ranking office staff.The fight against corruption got a shot in the arm when the former BJP president Bangaru Laxman was convicted under anti-corruption law for accepting bribe and was sent to Tihar jail.
It’s for the first time that a politician was convicted in corruption case. The court awarded Laxman four years jail term and imposed a fine of Rs one lakh.The conviction of former BJP President revives memories of NDA's rule under the premiership of Atal Behari Vajpayee, This scandal claimed then defence minister George Fernandez besides Laxman.Laxman caught the attention of the nation, as the then BJP president, when he was shown on the TV channels putting bundles of cash away in his drawer. It took 11 long years for the law enforcing authorities to finally nail him down and also convict him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.The sting operation conducted by then Theleka dotcom was amazing. It sent a decoy representing a fictitious arms firm to make a deal with Laxman.As apart of the deal, the BJP President would recommend to the Defence Ministry to give this firm a contract for supplying "thermal binoculars" to the Army.The decoy gave Laxman, a bribe of Rs 1 lakh in bundles of .currency notes that he accepted and kept it in his drawer. This act was recoded on camera and subsequently flashed on the TV channels. The unpleasant visuals unleashed a political storm and took away the sheen from the Vajpayee government that claimed to represent a party with a ‘difference’.The Special CBI judge held that the 72-year-old Laxman was guilty under the under the Prevention of Corruption Act and instead of giving him a maximum of five years in jail limited to four for accepting bribe.Laxman, had moved the High Court, after spending ten days in Tihar jail seeking quashing of the trial court's conviction on medical grounds. But the Delhi High Court refused to suspend the sentence.With this conviction Laxman earned the dubious distinction of being the first politician to be arrested under the graft charges and sent to jail.
There are two facets of it, one that the convict belonged to the BJP, the party that claimed to be moral and cultural upholder of Indian nation.The second, Laxman is a Madiga Dalit from Andhra Pradesh and to many his conviction is another Brahminical conspiracy to use and abuse a Dalit.
Nonetheless, the conviction of Laxman comes as a setback to BJP at a time when it is targeting the Congress over graft scandals.Will similar kind of judgment would come in spectrum cases, that’s what is being anxiously watched.
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