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Corruption a Core Issue in Malaysia

Corruption a core electoral issue for Christians, say church leaders

The Malaysian Insider – Fri, Apr 26, 2013  By Boo Su-Lyn

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Christians will vote against corruption and social injustice in Election 2013, besides calling for religious freedom in multi-racial Malaysia, church leaders said today.

They also said that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s support for the appeal to reverse a High Court ruling allowing Christians to use the Arabic word “Allah” contradicted his 2011 resolution granting east Malaysian Christians the freedom to do so.

“The question that begs to be answered is whether the 10-point solution decided by him and the Cabinet is still valid?” Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) chairman Rev Dr Eu Hong Seng told The Malaysian Insider today, referring to the caretaker prime minister.

“Before the GE, the Church is looking at a broad spectrum of issues — corruption, improvement to the economic well-being of people, freedom of religion, men of integrity to be our future MPs. I think Christians at large in Malaysia, whether east or west, we share the same strong sentiments about corruption,” added the head of the ecumenical umbrella body that represents 90 per cent of Malaysia’s roughly two million Christians.

The Christian community forms about a quarter of Sabah’s population and almost half of Sarawak’s population, where they mainly worship in Bahasa Malaysia church services and read Malay-language bibles.

Najib told global news station Al Jazeera in an interview, to be aired tomorrow, that he supported the government appeal against the 2009 High Court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the word “Allah”, saying that the Muslims have a different concept of Allah than the Christians.

An excerpt of the interview was obtained and reported by The Malaysian Insider this morning.

Before the Sarawak state election in 2011, Najib’s administration came up with a 10-point formula to resolve the issue of shipments of Malay-language bibles, which cater to Bumiputera Christians, that were blocked and confiscated before they were subsequently released by the government.

In the 10-point resolution, the Cabinet, through its minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala, assured the sizeable Bumiputera Christian population in Sabah and Sarawak that they were free to bring in and use their bibles in Malay as well as in indigenous languages.

Jala declined to comment today when asked about Najib’s backing for the appeal against the High Court ruling.

The Court of Appeal has fixed May 30 for another case management on the government and Home Ministry’s appeal against the 2009 High Court decision that the word “Allah” can be used by the Catholic weekly newspaper Herald.

Several places of worship nationwide, including churches, mosques and a gurdwara, were firebombed and desecrated after the High Court ruling, sparking tension between the Muslims — who form the majority of Malaysia’s population — and the Christian minority.

Christians comprise about nine per cent of the country’s 28 million population.

Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) general-secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri said Najib was “contradicting himself”.

“He’s the one who signed the 10-point agreement for Christians in Sabah and Sarawak in 2011,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

“Corruption is prevalent here and in east Malaysia. We are going to vote for an accountable government that protects the rights of all Malaysians as provided in the constitution. And this constitution has been made relevant to all sectors of Malaysian society, which include the rights of marginalised people, rights of workers, equality before the law, and one among them is religious freedom,” added Shastri.

CCM, an umbrella body of Protestant churches, released a video recently that urged Christians to vote for a corruption-free country where all Malaysians are treated as equals and where there is religious freedom.

Shastri said Christians were praying now until the May 5 polls for a “clean and fair election”.

Sabah’s Christian UPKO president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok did not respond to calls or text messages asking for comment.

Malaysian Govt using Sedition Act on Opposition

Fadiah

They have used this archaic and draconian Sedition Act, even though the Prime Minister, the government has said before that they would repeal this act, because it's no longer relevant in the modern setting, but unfortunately, it's not repealed and they continue to use this draconian act to stifle dissent.

Sen Lam interviews Fadiah Nadwa at Radio Australia 

Listen at: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/malaysian-opposition-face-full-force-of-the-sedition-act/1135426 

Malaysian authorities have arrested a high-profile Opposition politician and three others under the country's controversial Sedition Act.

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak pledged last year to strengthen civil liberties, including possibly repealing the Sedition Act.

The law has been described as oppressive by critics, who say it's been invoked often in the past to silence dissent.

Human rights lawyer Fadiah Nadwa is representing one of the four men detained. She spoke to me from Kuala Lumpur.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Fadiah Nadwa, lawyer representing student activist Adam Adli, one of four Malaysians charged with sedition

FADIAH: The four people are Tian Chua, the vice president of (opposition) Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The second person is Thamrin Ghafar, he's a PAS member (Parti Islam SeMalaysia), the Islamic party, PAS, and the third person is Haris Ibrahim, he's the chief of this movement called 'Anything But UMNO'. And the fourth person is Adam Adli and Adam has been charged this morning, and he has been released on bail. These four people are now in the Jinjang remand centre.

LAM: You represent Adam Adli, who was detained five days ago, but he's out on bail, is that right?

FADIAH: Yes, correct. Basically, they're just punishing him for speaking his mind and they have used this archaic and draconian Sedition Act, even though the Prime Minister, the government has said before that they would repeal this act, because it's no longer relevant in the modern setting, but unfortunately, it's not repealed and they continue to use this draconian act to stifle dissent. So Adam Adli has been detained for five days, after being arrested last Saturday - they (police) applied for a remand order from the magistrate, and the magistrate granted five-day remand against Adam Adli, and he was subjected to continuous interrogation even though he kept telling the police that they could have just referred to the video that contains his speech. They (the police) are just trying to send a message to the Malaysian people, Do not say something that's not favourable to the government, or else you'll be arrested and detained under the Sedition Act.

LAM: And Fadiah, can you tell us what is it exactly that Adam Adli had allegedly said that was considered so seditious?

FADIAH: Adam Adli basically called for the Malaysian people to go to the streets to protest against the fraud committed during the (May 5th) elections.

LAM: Tian Chua is of course the high-profile spokesman and also VP of the opposition Parti Keadilan. The opposition of course has been holding meetings about alleged electoral fraud - do you think Tian Chua's arrest might fuel emotions that're already running in Opposition ranks?

FADIAH: Yes, I believe so, because I think right now, after the elections, the government is obviously very insecure with how the Malaysian public is reacting to the allegations of fraud in the elections and how the Malaysian people are assembling to protest against the recent arrest of Adam Adli. The government is using the power that they have to tell the Malaysian public that they will do anything they can to stop the Malaysian public from expressing themselves, from protesting, from participating in peaceful assemblies and so on.

LAM: Prime Minister Najib prior to this month's elections, had vowed to strengthen civil liberties, including the possibility of getting rid of the Sedition Act. Do you think he's having second thoughts now?

FADIAH: I believe so, I think for political survival, the government knows that by having this (Sedition) Act, they can try to instil fear, because it's been used for so long. The Sedition Act is the legacy of the British and it has been used to stifle dissent. It's very, very clear that people who get arrested under the Sedition Act are people who're very vocal and critical of the government. So, this is a very powerful tool that is being used by the government, to stifle dissent, because the Sedition Act is very broad and wide. It can cover everything, and that's why it's being abused by the government, to stop people from speaking out.

LAM: One of the reasons the government had given for the need for the Sedition Act, was that it was relevant to multi-racial Malaysia, and there is a great need to keep racial harmony. You don't think the Sedition Act has a role or a place in Malaysian society?

FADIAH: No, I don't think that the Sedition Act is relevant. We can clearly compare this to the seditious statements issued by some people who're calling for racial hatred, racial violence, for example, recently. But no one was subjected to this Act. But when it comes to the Opposition, when it comes to the activists, the authorities are very fast to take action under the Sedition Act. So you can selective prosecution, and also how the government is not really serious in trying to build harmony and trying to deter racial hatred and also racial violence. So if they're very, very serious, they should repeal this Act and they should come up with new legislation that can deal with hate speech, for example, that can deal with racial violence, racial discrimination, in line with the international standard, International Covenant on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in order to ensure that everyone has the civil and political rights. 

NY Times on Malaysia latest

Asia Pacific, New York Times

Opposition Figures Are Detained in Malaysia

By THOMAS FULLER

Published: May 23, 2013

BANGKOK — The Malaysian government began a crackdown on political opponents on Thursday, arresting three government critics, including a prominent member of Parliament, and charging a student activist with sedition.

The arrests come two and a half weeks after elections that showed the governing party, which has been in power since independence from Britain in 1957, losing support from broad portions of the electorate.

The crackdown may be an attempt to pre-empt a demonstration planned for Saturday to protest accusations of fraud in the election, analysts said.

The opposition, which is led by a former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, won the popular vote in the May 5 election but failed to take control of Parliament because of a lopsided electoral system that gives a stronger voice to rural areas, where the governing party is strongest.

Mr. Anwar says the election victory was fraudulent and has been leading rallies across the country since the election results were announced; the demonstration on Saturday is being organized by a coalition of several dozen civic organizations.

The member of Parliament arrested on Thursday, Tian Chua, is Mr. Anwar’s deputy in a multicultural party that is challenging the dominance of the single-race United Malays National Organization.

Mr. Chua, who won re-election to Parliament May 5, posted on Twitter as he was being arrested Thursday, “No dictators could ever repress the rise of people’s power.” He said a police officer told him that he was being charged with sedition.

The two other people arrested are Haris Ibrahim, who leads an antigovernment group, and Tamrin Ghafar, the son of a former deputy prime minister who is a member of an Islamic party that is allied with Mr. Anwar. In addition, Adam Adli, the student activist, was charged with sedition on Thursday and released.

The Malaysian government, which has begun numerous crackdowns against dissidents during its decades in power, issued a statement late Thursday calling the arrests “a matter for the police.”

“The detentions came after the police received numerous reports against the defendants by members of the public,” the statement said. “In such circumstances the police are required to investigate and are following due and proper process.”

Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who is under pressure within his party after the narrow victory, has vowed to undo some of the authoritarian legacy of his predecessors. The government has lifted a ban that prevented students from participating in politics, and it has said it will not use a law that allows detention without trial.

Mr. Najib announced in July that he would repeal the sedition law, which dates to British colonial days, but it remains on the books.

Open to broad interpretation, the sedition act calls for sentences of up to three years in prison and makes it illegal to bring “into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Malaysia.”

It can also apply to someone who promotes “feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia.”

We the Malaysian people will vote for you

HERCULES CLEANING AUGEAN STABLES

God and Malaysia

BN rigged the EC constituencies

Putrajaya's small constituency is made equal to Kapar's huge constituency: this is a blatant example of disproportionate rigging of votes in favour of BN.

PETALING JAYA (May 22): Among the election "literature" distributed prior to the 13th general election (GE13) was Tindak Malaysia's analysis of Malaysia's electoral outlook. 

By virtue of Tindak Malaysia's position as a non-partisan community movement that conducted voter education and election agent training, the analysis was widely circulated via social media. 

The analysis examined the 2008 political landscape and drew conclusions as to the probable results of the GE13. 

Tindak Malaysia's main political premise was that BN would never lose a general election because its re-delineation strategy ensured that it won most of the smaller rural parliamentary seats while Pakatan Rakyat took most of the larger but lesser urban seats. 

The movement ranked the 222 parliamentary constituencies according to the size of their voters based on 2008 data. Most of the rural areas, aside from Putrajaya, made up the first 112 seats. 

To further illustrate its point, Tindak Malaysia compared the smallest parliamentary seat of Putrajaya to the largest seat of Kapar. Putrajaya's 6,608 voters when compared to Kapar's 112,224 voters resulted in a ratio of 1:17. This means one vote in Putrajaya is worth 17 in Kapar.

Today, Putrajaya and Kapar have 15,791 and 144,159 registered voters respectively. 

According to Tindak Malaysia founder, Wong Piang Yow, BN only needed to win a simple majority of 51% in 112 of the smaller parliamentary seats to stay on as the ruling government also by a simple majority. 

And based on his calculations, BN had easily won 112 seats within the first 139 seats (according to voters' size) in the 2008 general election with a total of 2.08 million votes. 

"Do you agree that two million can decide for 28 million?" he asked in the analysis.

The official GE13 figures have yet to be gazetted but Wong has estimated that 2.26 million voters had decided for Malaysia on May 5. 

Tindak Malaysia's analysis also emphasised that the bulk of the 112 seats were in Malay-majority rural areas and had a total voter count of less than 45,000 each.

"For a simple majority rule, the rural bumiputeras decide," Tindak Malaysia stated. "Only for two-thirds majority do the non-bumiputeras have a say." 

"Is it a coincidence that the poorest groups with the worst infrastructure, education and healthcare facilities are the kingmakers?" 

Political analysts who viewed the presentation agreed that the premise, though simplistic, was valid. However, they pointed out that other variables and technicalities had to be taken into consideration. 

Professor James Chin of Monash University said that the two million represented registered voters and had therefore decided for the 10.9 million voters instead of the total population of 28 million. 

He added that the calculations of a simple majority were also based on the assumption of a full voter turnout in all 112 seats, something which has yet to be achieved. 

"But yes, it is possible that two million decided for 10.9 million in 2008," Chin said. 

K Shan, chairman of the National Institute for Electoral Integrity (NIEI),  agreed with Chin on both points but added that the controversy lay in the popular vote which he called a "problematic analysis." 

"We are behaving like we're in a two-party system when in fact we're living in a multi-party system," Shan said. "The popular vote analysis doesn't reflect an illegitimate government." 

Taking a different stand from other critics of Malaysia's electoral system, Shan stated that the first past the post (FPTP) system can be maintained but proposed the inclusion of proportional representation.  

"FPTP is a balanced representation of the rural, urban and East Malaysian communities especially when 70% of voters in East Malaysia are located outside the urban areas," he said. "FPTP establishes a balance in urban voting power."

On the subject of voting power, the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) has recommended that the upcoming re-delineation exercise reflects equal representation of votes by reverting to a former rural weightage system. 

The system, which was part of the original Federal Constitution in 1957, called for not more than a 15% discrepancy from the average constitution in each state. It underwent constitutional amendments in 1962 and was scrapped completely in 1973. 

"Rural weightage basically says that people in rural areas should have a greater say in how the country is run because they might need more help," said IDEAS chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

"So there must be a normalisation of the constituency sizes while appreciating that there are urban, semi-urban and rural areas and each which different characteristics."

Political analyst and newly-elected DAP MP for Serdang Ong Kian Ming, meanwhile said that while Tindak Malaysia's calculations may be simplistic, it showed a possible reality given that the large majority of small seats were won by BN. 

"This point shows the inherent unfairness of the electoral system in Malaysia," he stated. "You would not find such a case in other mature democracies using FPTP." 

Two academics from Universiti Putra Malaysia's (UPM) Human Ecology faculty agreed on the premise that BN's winning points were scored in the rural areas and warned that the ruling coalition now needed to focus on the urban areas in preparation for GE14. 

Professor Sarjit Singh Darshan Singh said while BN's survival in GE13 was heavily dependent on the rural votes, the next election would be a more severe test of its strength as younger voters moved to the urban areas. 

He also noted that political awareness among the minority communities had also increased this time round which indicated that they wanted to be involved in the political process. 

"They want to contribute their views but the question is to what extent are their views taken into account by the government," Sarjit said.

Calling the GE13 a "minority general election," Professor Jayum anak Jawan asserted that without them, BN would not be ruling again. 

"Sabah and Sarawak carried a sinking ship and with rural areas fast becoming urbanised, the minorities will play a bigger role in the next election," he said.

Read more: http://www.fz.com/content/did-two-million-rural-voters-decide-malaysia#ixzz2U1F5Vb3b

Malay MP speaks out against UMNO

Monday, 13 May 2013 By - Dato' Mohd.Ariff Sabri bin Hj. Abdul Aziz.  He is now the elected MP for Raub Pahang under DAP platform. Studied Economics at University Malaya and University of Manchester(Owens).  P80 RAUB 

 1. Dato' Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz (DAP)     23,415

2. Hoh Khai Mun (BN)                                         20,601                           

 What More do the Malays want?  They want nothing more of Najib and UMNO

I am asking the former judge who came out with a Hitler-like final solution to his problem to study the above table. Does he have Himmler, Hess and Goebbels and Joseph Mengele around with him? While he is at it, he might as well invite the Zul Nordin's and Ibrahim Ali's of this country.

The problem faced by UMNO is not a Malay problem. It is a problem for specific UMNO leaders- chiefly Najib for having failed to get more Malay support. Additional UMNO seats did not translate into more Malay votes. He is trying to hide his problem by blaming the Chinese. Why did he spend billions on 1Malaysia then? Was that agenda an excuse to pilfer the till?

What of the former judge? How did this person become a judge in the first place? There must be a flaw in the system of selecting judges. He must have been a beneficiary of the bad side of the NEP, that portion that promotes the mediocre and the riffraff over genuine and really talented Malays. He should be hauled up for sedition. Coincidentally, the bad portion of the NEP was the creation of UMNO.

Just look at the above figures. In Peninsula Malaysia, BN got 4.347 million votes compared to 5.624 million votes garnered by PR. That’s 45% compared to 53%. It is obvious PR won the popular votes. In simpler words to UMNO people, more people voted PR than UMNO/BN.

9.4 million Malaysian citizens voted in Peninsula on that day. From that figure, let us assume that 70% were Malays. The number of Malay voters in Peninsula was 6.58 million on that Sunday. BN got 4.347 million votes. Assuming out of that, 70% were Malay voters, UMNO candidates secured 3.0 million votes, an increase of 1 million from 2008. That is logical given the amount of money Najib bribed to get their votes. If UMNO got 3.0 million Malay votes, the number of Malays who didn’t vote UMNO was bigger- at 3.58 million!

What more do the Malays want? They want nothing more of Najib and his band of thieving politicians.

Take Perak for example. The state should receive condolences. PR clearly took in more votes than BN, yet BN is still the government. It has no moral basis to stay on as the state government and Zamri can’t crow about having support from the people. BN got 31 state seats to PR’s 28. Only 3 seats separate the legal victor from the moral winner.

But immoral UMNO doesn’t care two hoots about what citizens want. They care more about what they can get from having power. They care more about what Najib and Mahathir can give them.

The UMNO people are working overtime to validate Najib’s performance. He has failed. Sure, he added a number of seats to UMNO, by way of fraud and gerrymandering. But, he hasn’t increased Malay support for UMNO.

Since, more Malays rejected UMNO again this time, Utusan Malaysia should be asking, what more do the Malays want? Well, they want to kick out UMNO from Putrajaya with its damning policies. An economy driven by corruption, powered by patronage meant for cronies.

You think Malaysians are elated Najib announced another trillion Ringgit package? Because they already know how the game is played- 30% is for commissions for UMNO-proxied companies. In the meantime the pliant rural mass is kept fearful of a Chinese takeover of Malaysia.

Who is UMNO kidding? The civil service is 90% Malays, all the heads of departments are Malays, the Police is predominantly Malay, the military again Malays, the kings- I don’t see any with non-Malay names. So how do the Chinese take over Malaysia without creating a bloodbath?

Another thing- why does UMNO confer on itself the monopoly to speak on behalf of the Malays? It only commands less than 50% of the total number of Malay votes. UMNO is a shameless party. So for whom does UMNO speak, I ask once again?

For the Malay anarchists, the pseudo- feudal establishment who desire the good life by enslaving other people to work, the oligarchs, and the Malay type created by Mahathir with his scorched earth politics and his politics of vengeance.

What does Mukhriz have other than a famous surname? The Malays are once again duped into believing that talent and smartness are inherited. The hallmark of a backward society is that it operates along the lines of ascriptive norms like McCLelland says in The Achieving society. A person is promoted on account of his ascribed and inherited status- hence Mukhriz is deemed the best MB prospect because he is the son of Mahathir, Najib the best person to lead Malaysia because he is the son of Tun Razak.

Unfortunately, the only endorsement on Najib being the best person to lead comes from Pak Lah - himself a mediocre talent. He could be saying that just to seek revenge on Muhyidin for orchestrating his departure from office in 2009.

What more do the Malays want? They want nothing of Najib and UMNO. UMNO led government is a minority government. That is a fact.

Reasons for the Christian Faith

8 Richest Sportsmen

Legitimacy crisis in post-election Malaysia

Legitimacy crisis in post-election Malaysia
By Anil Netto 

PENANG - Large crowds have turned out in protests in major cities on peninsular Malaysia in response to a general election marred by allegations of irregularities and vote-buying. As the protests spread across the country, the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat's challenge has the potential to destabilize Prime Minister Najib Razak's new government. 

In the central state of Selangor, some 100,000 thronged a stadium in the first major protest three days after the May 5 polls. Thousands more attended a simultaneous protest at the Rusila Mosque in Terengganu on the peninsula's east coast. These were followed by another large turnout of close to 100,000 at another stadium, in the northern state of Penang, on May 11. 

On Sunday night, some 30,000 crammed into the streets of Ipoh, the capital of the state of Perak, for yet another rally. More rallies are expected this week, including in Johor Bahru in the south and Kuantan on the east coast of the peninsula. Smaller groups of Malaysians have congregated in cities abroad, including in Melbourne, Taiwan, and Singapore. 

At all the rallies participants have dressed in black to symbolize a democracy "blackout". The de facto Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Anwar Ibrahim and other coalition politicians have made several rousing speeches decrying fraud and irregularities at the polls. They have also made their case with international audiences, including in interviews with big global broadcasters. 

In a campaign that highlighted rampant corruption and cronyism in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, the PR won almost 51% of the popular vote at the polls. But with constituencies gerrymandered to favor less-populated rural areas traditionally held by BN, PR won only 40% of parliament's 222 seats. (BN captured 133 parliamentary seats to the PR's 89.) 

PR retained the state governments of Penang and Selangor, both developed states that it has governed since 2008, and the rural east coast state of Kelantan and lost narrowly in the northern state of Kedah. 

Despite winning less than half of the national vote, BN now controls 10 out of 13 federal states due to its careful carving of constituencies. In Perak state, which PR captured in 2008 only to lose power after a few of its elected representatives defected, the BN won only 43% of the popular vote but still captured the state assembly, winning 31 state seats to the PR's 28. 

Subramaniam Pillay, a steering committee member of the civil society Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), notes that the last time constituencies were redrawn was in 2003, and that only a simple majority in parliament and the state assemblies is required to redraw electoral boundaries - though a two thirds majority is required to increase the number of seats. 

PR's three component parties are expected to challenge the results in some 30 parliamentary constituencies where the BN won with small majorities. They have 21 days from the date the results are officially gazetted later this month to submit court petitions. 

They could also file more general suits relating to vote-buying and constitutional issues related to the conduct of a caretaker government. Bersih, which has staged massive street rallies in the past against BN's perceived manipulation of the electoral system in its favor, has said it would set up a "People Tribunal" to investigate the allegations of fraud and irregularities. 

Najib, for his part, claimed a "Chinese tsunami" (a reference to the ethnic Chinese who represent 25% of the population) voted down BN candidates in many urban areas. Utusan Malaysian, owned by Najib's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, took the cue with a headline splashed on its front and back pages asking "What more do the Chinese want?". 

BN's insistence on viewing the country's fast-changing political landscape through a race-tinted lens is consistent with its old style of politics, which is theoretically based on power-sharing among race-based political parties in BN but in reality is dominated by the ethnic Malay-led UMNO. 

The contrast with the PR's self-proclaimed "new politics" could not be more pronounced. Multi-ethnic demonstrators have said they represent a "Malaysian tsunami" that wants good governance, clean and fair elections and an end to corruption, and an end to the BN's practice of exploiting ethnic divisions. 

"Some commentators here have missed the whole point: we are not saying the opposition will take over the government or whether the elections results can be verified and fraud detected," said Jeremiah Liang, who left a comment on a blog. "No. The real change is that the people of Malaysia, from all races and mostly urban, starting with Selangor and then to other states, are saying to the incumbent government: You have lost the people's mandate to lead and to govern." 

The police have responded by threatening to investigate 28 speakers at recent rallies for sedition, an offense, punishable by imprisonment, that the BN has long used to stifle criticism of its rule. The organizers of the various rallies will also be investigated for allegedly violating the Peaceful Assembly Act, which requires they give 10 days notice to the police before staging rallies. Should the government make mass arrests, the situation could tilt towards instability, some analysts believe. 

To what extent election fraud, including allegations of voting buying in the crucial North Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, can be proven with sufficient evidence to overturn the results remains questionable. PR parties will face significant constraints to scrutiny in interior and difficult-to-access rural areas long controlled by BN politicians. 

However, in one significant expose, the social reform group Aliran found people lining up for payments ranging from 150-200 ringgit (US$50-67) over the weekend in a few nondescript locations based on vouchers received before polling day. Some of those lining up for payments but who didn't receive cash were told they would only receive payment if the BN candidate in their area won. 

Others says the real source of fraud lies in the integrity of the electoral rolls. The BN's granting of identity cards or citizenship documents to migrants in Sabah that allow them to vote had been the subject of a royal commission of inquiry but was postponed ahead of the election. 

The Election Commission, meanwhile, has received flak for using indelible ink that disappears with mild scrubbing. With 260,000 military and police personnel eligible for early voting five days before official polling, the issue has raised concerns that BN-loyal security officials may have voted more than once. 

The PR's focus on electoral irregularities and gerrymandering may mask somewhat the coalition's failure to deliver its clean governance message in grass roots rural areas. Many of the rural voters receive their news from television, radio and newspapers tightly controlled by the BN-led federal government, while few have access to more independent Internet-based news. 

If PR did get its message across, it may not have resonated with rural voters as it did with urban ones. For instance, its pledges to reduce highway tolls, provide free higher education and usher in good governance lacked popular resonance in remote areas of Sabah and Sarawak where direct BN populist hand-outs maintained voter loyalty. 

Among rural voters and some urban voters there were no doubt concerns that they would lose out if the BN's affirmative action policies were replaced by the PR's promise of more meritocracy in the distribution of state funds. While PR had indicated it would adopt a more needs-based - rather than race-based - approach, old insecurities remain. 

Other weaknesses in the PR campaign included disputes over seat allocations among component parties that led to several multi-cornered contests that split votes in pro-PR areas. The late selection of PR candidates also gave them little time to familiarize themselves with the area and electorate in Malaysia's short campaign period. 

Despite these weaknesses, Anwar has announced plans to hold more rallies. While it still seems unlikely these will morph any time soon into a larger Arab Spring-like movement that overturns the result, the rallies and the allegations add to the pressure on Najib, who is clearly struggling to come to terms with the erosion of BN popular support. 

Amount Sugar hidden in junk food

Umno’s unpardonable sins against the Malays

Umno’s unpardonable sins against the Malays

May 19, 2013

FMT LETTER: From Tota, via e-mail

The general election is over. An allegedly fraudulent electoral system and a highly tainted electoral roll has once again ensured a BN victory, albeit a hollow one with less than 48% of the popular vote.

Over a long period of 56 years, Umno has played havoc with the Malay mind through crippling political and religious propaganda. In this election, the educated, intelligent and well-informed Malay in the urban and semi-urban areas have toppled the proverbial coconut shell that Umno kept them trapped under and come out to realise that there is a wondrous political world outside!

As predicted by well-known surgeon and writer Dr M Bakri Musa in his book ‘Liberating the Malay mind’, Umno needs a scapegoat. The “hantu” pendatang, the Chinese bogeyman, has been resurrected once again to serve their purpose. No one has analysed the Malay dilemma more clearly and expressed it more succinctly than Dr M Bakri Musa. I quote below a few excepts from his book about what Umno has done to the Malay mind:

1 Malays have been addicted to the comfort of life underneath the coconut shell for far too long. Now with the shell breached by globalisation and the digital waves, it is dawning upon us that our “comfort” is anything but. There is a far greater, more open, and definitely wondrous universe out there that we have been missing.

Life under the coconut shell is no longer sustainable; for many it is already intolerable. We can either topple this shell ourselves or risk having it done by external forces. With the former we would be in command of our destiny; we could purposely choose the timing, manner, and consequently the outcome. With the latter, we would be at the mercy of events and circumstances beyond our control; we would effectively become victims.

2 The metaphorical Malay coconut shell – our closed minds – cannot be destroyed physically. Besides, with the huge pores already created by globalisation and the digital revolution, many have already successfully emerged from underneath it, with only the mushrooms to sustain us.
This would be the fate that awaits those with a closed mind. Perhaps we could rationalise that by adopting a “leave us alone” philosophy. Such an option, however, is not for us to choose but for others to impose.

The colonials imposed upon the world and us their narrative of “the lazy native”. With our closed minds we readily accepted that and then lived up to it. Only centuries later did we manage to escape (though).

3 In an ironic twist, we have now substituted our own equally fictional narrative of ourselves. This one, not surprisingly, puts us at the opposite end of the scale, that of the privileged “son of the soil” (Bumiputra). With that we declare our inherent superiority, taking a leaf from the colonials. The latest incarnation of this new narrative is Ketuanan Melayu. Alas, while we may have changed our story, the reality remains the same; we are merely trading one mental coconut shell for another. That is no liberation.

4 In this capitalistic world we would not be far wrong if we were to, as the pundits put it, follow the money. Just as those divine novels and soap operas make tons of money for their publishers and producers, so too our narrative of Ketuanan Melayu for its perpetrators. Thus it is not a surprise that those who shouted the loudest and shrillest about it are also among the most privileged of Malays – the Umnoputras. They live in palatial bungalows, have children attend expensive English schools, acquire multiple trophy wives, and own fleets of luxury cars, all made possible through political patronage, “Approved Permits” and outright corruption.

5 The perpetrators of Ketuanan Melayu already sense this impending implosion; hence their preoccupation with creating new myths. We are now led to believe that our problems are the results of the conspiracies of various hantus (ghost or devils). First there is the hantu of globalisation with its associated hantu of capitalism and secularism, and then hantu pendatang (of immigrants). If those were not enough, there is also the added hantu of religious extremism. We are currently totally bewitched, if one is to believe this new narrative. Again, the majority with their trapped minds have willingly accepted this new version of reality.

6 There is another feature of the brain that rivals its ability to edit non-conforming information, and that is its tendency to see the whole instead of the parts. This gives rise to the dominance of “framing.”

7 Society too can be imprisoned by this framing effect. We Malays, or specifically our leaders, have framed our dilemmas as one of Ketuanan Melayu instead of our lack of competitiveness, as it should be. All of our actions are thus “framed” by our mindset.

This preoccupation with Ketuanan Melayu and obsession with the various hantus distract us from recognising the real existential threats we face. We are all familiar with our laggardness in economics, education and other arenas, as our leaders never tire of reminding us. Those are bad enough, but there are other far greater and indeed more immediate threats we are oblivious to because of all these other distractions.

One immediate threat is the deepening polarisation and increasing inequities within our Malay community. This is a far greater threat than the more familiar inter-racial variety. I worry less about another interracial conflict ala May 1969 and fear more a Malay civil war.

8 The other threat is that we risk being left behind by emerging global trends.

9 Finally, our increasing obsession with religion puts us right in the target of its extremist elements. Once they get hold of our institutions and power structure, it would be very difficult to dislodge them. Iran and Afghanistan are ready examples, soon to be joined by Pakistan and, if we are not careful, Malaysia.

It is time to craft another narrative, one that better reflects us and the world we are part of more accurately, with much less fanciful artistic licence. Were we to do that, our actions would more likely be productive and less disruptive.

Even if our new chronicle were to have some less-than-truthful elements, with an open mind and the associated humility and willingness to learn, we could at least tweak and re-edit to make our story conform more to reality. That is what a free mind bestows upon its owner. With a closed mind our narrative would calcify, and with time it would become far detached from reality. Then we would willingly distort new information to make it conform to our increasingly warped view.

Liberate the Malay mind, Merdeka minda Melayu, and we effectively topple our coconut shell.

Information (freer access to it), education (liberal and broad-based, with competence in science and mathematics), and engagement in trade and commerce (capitalism – the genuine, not the ersatz or rent-seeking variety) are proven effective tools not only in toppling our mental coconut shell but also in preparing us for the wonderful open world. Liberate the Malay mind and those various hantus would be exposed for that they are, figments of our rich imagination. With a free mind, we would turn those crises into opportunities. Liberate the Malay mind and we will re-frame our dilemmas. Liberate our minds and we liberate our world.

10 Before we can even begin to contemplate freeing the Malay mind, we must first acknowledge the forces that have kept and are keeping it closed. Foremost are the myriad of intrusive and repressive rules, the mother of which is the Internal Security Act. Those are meant less for security, more for repression. Then there are our schools and universities, intent on indoctrinating rather than educating our young. More entrenched is the corruption of our cultural values where respect for leaders is mistaken as a licence for them to indulge at our expense. If those were not enough, then there is our particularly myopic interpretation
of our faith.

P/S I urge every Malaysian to read the excellent book ‘Liberating the Malay mind’ by M Bakri Musa.

Tota is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to Aliran’s Thinking Allowed Online section