Bernama vs White House: Conveniently leaving out things

Please look at what Bernama conveniently leaves out of the White House’s official statement.

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GE13: US hopes for continued cooperation with Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The Office of the White House Press Secretary congratulated Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on his general election victory, saying it looked forward to continuing the close cooperation with the Malaysian government and its people to strengthen democracy, peace and prosperity in the region.

“On behalf of the President and the people of the United States, we congratulate Prime Minister Najib on his coalition’s victory in Malaysia’s parliamentary elections on May 5,” a statement from the US Embassy here said.

The general election saw Barisan Nasional returned to power after winning 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats to form the new federal government.

“We also congratulate the people of Malaysia who turned out in record numbers to cast their votes as well as the parties of the opposition coalition on their campaigns as a vibrant opposition is a foundation of democracy,” the statement said. – Bernama

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2013%2F5%2F9%2Fnation%2F20130509182951&sec=nation&utm_source=TSOL_main&utm_medium=links&utm_campaign=GE13

———-

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release May 08, 2013
Statement by the Press Secretary on Malaysia’s Elections

On behalf of the President and the people of the United States, we congratulate Prime Minister Najib on his coalition’s victory in Malaysia’s parliamentary elections on Sunday May 5. We also congratulate the people of Malaysia, who turned out in record numbers to cast their votes, as well as the parties of the opposition coalition on their campaigns, as a vibrant opposition is a foundation of democracy. We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised. We look forward to the outcome of their investigations. The United States looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with the government and the people of Malaysia to continue to strengthen democracy, peace, and prosperity in the region.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/08/statement-press-secretary-malaysia-s-elections

———-

“We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised. We look forward to the outcome of their investigations”

Bernama forgot to include this part.

Kantoi.

Radio Free Malaysia hacked

Looks like it’s the season for hacking. Because information brings change, and the regime does not take well to change.

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Radio Free Malaysia, Radio Free Sarawak and Sarawak Report all Hacked

The websites for Radio Free Malaysia, Radio Free Sarawak and the news portal Sarawak Report, which represent free media in Malaysia, have all been subject to relentless DDOS attacks since the beginning of this week.
Today, Thursday 11th April, the sites were hacked and all three were brought down. The attacks have coincided with various forms of jamming which have been attempted against the broadcasts of both the independent Radio Stations, which operate from outside of Malaysia.
Radio Free Sarawak is at 1100-1300 UTC on 15230 kHz Short Wave and Radio Free Malaysia is at 1300-1500 UTC on 1359 kHz Medium Wave. Both stations are still available on Sound Cloud:

https://soundcloud.com/radiofreesarawak
https://soundcloud.com/radiofreemalaysia

Malaysia, which poses as a democracy, has nevertheless one of the most restrictive medias in the world, dominated by the ruling Barisan National coalition. Widespread access to the internet has broken into that monopoloy over information in recent years, however, evidently causing considerable concern to a government beset by recent scandals and corruption investigations involving senior figures.

Disruption of independent online news portals is regular in Malaysia and entirely expected after the disollution of Parliament finally took place last week, in anticipation of elections due on May 5th. The human rights organisation Suaram has also been knocked offline as have the news outlets Free Malaysia Today and Malaysian Insider.

The Distributed Denial Of Service (DDOS) attacks have been mounting against the anti-corruption site Sarawak Report for the past few weeks. The site has focused on exposing timber corruption over the past three years, demonstrating how the destruction of the Borneo Jungle has been driven by a small number of politically connected individuals in the East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah.

Yesterday, Wednesday 10th April, the site was targeted by 64 million hits designed to take down its server. The sister sites for the two radio stations received similar attacks. Most of the attacks have radiated out of Russia and Eastern Europe and site administrators were able to fend off the onslaught until the site itself was hacked earlier today.
The NGO Access Now, which campaigns to support freedom of expression on the internet, has moved to assist the websites in their purpose of providing independent news and information to Malaysian voters in the run up to May 5th.

“This is a pretty typical pattern for an automated attack”, explains Gustav Bjorksten from Access Now, “anyone opposing a dictatorial power tends to get attacked by DDOS. With the calling of an election you can pretty much set your clock by it”.

Behind the attacks are criminals who build large ‘botnets’, which they then hire out to people who pay, for example governments trying to suppress inconvenient information. The cost is phenomenal, with the sort of major attacks sustained by Sarawak Report running into hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of weeks.
The botnets operate through a web of a very large number of compromised computers, which send out millions of emails to disable the target sites. The common perpetrators are based in Russia and countries in Eastern Europe, including Lithuania and the Ukraine. Turkey is also a centre for this kind of activity.

“This is a pretty big attack” Bjorksten said of the assault on Sarawak Report and its sister sites, “they are serious, they want you off line”.

Clare Rewcastle Brown, the Editor of Sarawak Report and the Founder of Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Free Malaysia, which operate out of London in order to avoid Malaysian censorship, said today that the Malaysian Government was only showing itself up by resorting to such tactics.
“This is not a proper expenditure of taxpayers’ money and it only goes to prove how vulnerable this 50 year old regime feels to the truth” she said. “BN controls every single news paper and broadcast outlet in Malaysia, which are all forced to pour out propaganda favouring their party and to attack opposition leaders without allowing them their right of reply. And yet BN are nevertheless clearly terrified by even the most modest platforms providing independent news or alternative information. They are also plainly threatened by the evidence about outrageous corruption by the party’s top politicians, who have been robbing the country in recent years and amassing astonishing fortunes. Such evidence is suppressed in the mainstream media, yet Malaysia has been stripped of its resources and wealth by the political classes, who are exporting huge sums into tax havens abroad. Particularly in the rainforest states of Sabah and Sarawak the mass of ordinary people have been left poorer than ever.

“The BN establishment clearly feel unable to defend themselves against the mass of available evidence of this corruption, so they are resorting to attempting to silence the messengers. It won’t work and it just reveals them for what they are, which is politicians who dare not subject themselves to free and open debate”.

“It is really quite shameful that a government such as Malaysia should consider it appropriate to resort to hiring criminals with taxpayers’ money. They talk about the benefits of winning the “cyber-war” as if there was some honour in what they are doing. This is a dishonerable tactic and it shows just what a sham this supposedly democratic election is, where the critics of bribes, jerryamandering and vote-rigging are being silenced by such means”.

Cincin 24 Juta

Disertakan kenyataan dari Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) yang bertanya mengapa hanya selepas 2 tahun, baru kini penjelasan tentang penafian DS Rosmah mengenai cincin yang dipercayai bernilai RM24 juta dibangkitkan semula…

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Kenyataan Media
7 April 2013

Cincin RM24J: Mengapa Plot Hadir Selepas Hampir 2 Tahun?

Berikutan kemunculan sebuah wawancara mengenai cincin berlian RM24 juta, Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) hari ini menegaskan bahawa kredibililti wawancara tersebut sangsi dan mencurigakan.

Terdapat beberapa perkara yang menjadi persoalan ekoran ‘cubaan’ untuk menutup persepsi besar namun dilihat menimbulkan lebih banyak polemik, antaranya;

1. SAMM pada awalnya mempersoalkan mengapa nama Datin Paduka Rosmah Mansor tertera dalam borang kastam K1, menjadi satu bukti yang tidak mampu disangkal. Namun mengapa penafian pertama rosmah pada 29 Julai 2011, tidak digunakan ruang ini untuk menjelaskan perihal sebenar? Rosmah hanya nafi tanpa penjelasan.

2. Mengapa pihak syarikat pengeluar membuat kenyataan berbentuk video hanya setelah hampir dua tahun isu ‘cincin Imelda Rosmah RM24 juta’ menggemparkan negara? Mengapa begitu lama masa diambil? Dua tahun adalah tempoh yang sangat lama untuk menjawab satu dakwaan serius.

3. Jika benar cincin tersebut masuk ke Malaysia untuk tujuan pameran, mengapa borang kastam K1 digunakan dan mengapa tidak guna borang ATA CARNET? Borang ATA CARNET diperuntukkan untuk sebarang bentuk pameran.

4. Bila tarikh sebenar cincin tersebut keluar dari Malaysia? Apakah 20 April 2011 seperti dilaporkan? Parlimen membuat kenyataan bertulis bahawa cincin tersebut dipulangkan semula kepada syarikat ‘pemilik asal’ selepas beberapa hari di Malaysia, sedangkan bulan lalu dilaporkan di media bahawa cincin tersebut dipulangkan setahun selepas masuk ke Malaysia. Mana satu yang betul? Apakah perubahan kenyataan ini berlaku kerana borang kastam K2 yang didedahkan dulu telah dibuktikan oleh SAMM sebagai satu cubaan menipu?

5. Bagaimana besan kepada Perdana Menteri turut terlibat? Apa kena mengena besan Perdana Menteri sehingga terpalit nama Rosmah Mansor dalam dokumen rasmi melibatkan harta bernilai RM24 juta?

Dalam risalah cincin yang diterbit SAMM, terdapat juga pendedahan sekeping gambar yang menunjukkan Rosmah memakai sebuah gelang bertatah berlian. Setelah diperiksa, gelang tersebut dinamakan “Zebra Safari” berharga RM1.65 juta. Ironinya gelang tersebut dikeluarkan dari syarikat pengeluar cincin bernilai RM24 Juta. Ia menggambarkan Rosmah sebagai pelanggan yang tidak asing kepada syarikat berpengkalan di New York itu dan tidak mustahil syarikat tersebut cuba melindungi pelanggannya.

Bagi SAMM, pendedahan isu cincin RM24 juta ini menjadi satu titik tolak penting kerana selepas itu lebih banyak lagi pendedahan membongkar pekung kebobrokan negara seperti pendedahan NFC dan beberapa kes keluarga menteri dianugerah projek. Isu cincin ini menjadi pendorong untuk pegawai kerajaan tampil berani menyalurkan maklumat ketirisan wang rakyat.

Akhir sekali, SAMM tidak menolak kemungkinan pendedahan cincin RM24 juta ini sebenarnya telah menggagalkan pemilikkan cincin tersebut dan seterusnya menyelamatkan wang negara ini dari terus dibazirkan kepada pihak ‘jahat’.

che’GuBard
Pengasas
Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia

Reconsidering Elected Representatives

What is the role of a member of Parliament? A state assemblyperson (ADUN)? A local councillor?

And where is the citizen in this superstructure of modern organisation called democracy?

These are some questions that I believe Malaysians must face in order to overcome the illiteracy in democracy which I strongly believe is crippling our nation.

As my esteemed readers may or may not know, for the past two years I have been working for and with the MP for Lembah Pantai, which is one of 11 parliamentary constituencies in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

In these past two years, which seems a lifetime if my swiftly greying hair is anything to go by, I have learned more than a bit about the inner and outer workings of politics on many levels of society.

And while I pretty much jumped into the deep end of the political pool and quickly learned how to swim (or rather, not sink), I found that I was still ill-equipped to really understand how things worked.

I did wish that there was some sort of primer, some kind of 101 manual that could have been handed so that I could quickly learn what to do, what to avoid, and to understand where everything stood when you took a step back and looked at the bigger picture.

Today, when I am asked why hasn’t the MP done something about the potholes, or rubbish, or missing street lights, I can confidently say that actually that’s not what the MP is there for. If one is in KL, one must quickly contact DBKL at either its hotline (1-800-88-3255) or visit its website to lodge an e-complaint. If one is in PJ, it would be via MBPJ or the local councillors – i.e. local government.

In other words, I have come to understand that an MP and ADUN is really elected to listen to the rakyat, to look at the bigger picture and why things are currently not working so well, and to propose systemic changes to the superstructure through promulgating new laws or reforming current ones.

Yet we are still under the impression that MPs and ADUNs are like “Swiss Army knives” – multi-purpose miracle tools to solve all problems.

Perhaps it’s because we have been raised with such expectations all these years.

Perhaps not much has been systematically done to change the perception that people have about the role of elected representatives.

Perhaps it has much to do with the fact that some 60 per cent of Malaysians are living with a household income of RM3,000 and below – and when we see many of these MPs or ADUNs with means (which might have been the fruits of their own hard work… or otherwise), it is not unnatural to inquire how our lot might be made better. Quickly.

Fundamentally, I believe it is a question of economics, and more specifically our current political-economic regime.

I believe that if we are able to fundamentally and permanently raise the household incomes of Malaysians, we will begin to see a shift in the dynamics of our political economy.

To put it simply, we will rely on elected lawmakers to do the work they are entrusted to do: make good laws.

And while the prognosis is much agreed by both sides of the aisle, the manner in which the goal of uplifting our common condition is being achieved is structurally divergent, if we are to look at the latest Budgets proposed by both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat – the former is looking at quick, temporary, and ultimately expensive fixes such as BR1M2.0 for the purposes of winning the next election, while the latter is focused on holistic reforms to undo debilitating cronyistic practices.

I hope that one day Malaysians will be able to appreciate the role that each and every citizen has to play, in order to make a better Malaysia a reality for all.

(First published in Selangor Times on 19 October 2012)

The day after…

In my last article, I wrote about the need to imagine the hours, days, weeks, and months following the 13th General Election (a most enigmatic event, whose precise date is and will forever be a mystery… until it is called!).

This time round, I would like to invite us all to consider, imagine, and think about the first 24 hours after Malaysia goes to the polls.

There are numerous scenarios of what may take place when the Election Commission makes that all-important call after all the ballot papers have been tallied at all the counting centers: a declaration that 1) Barisan Nasional has won two-thirds majority to form government; 2) that BN has won a simple majority and forms government; 3) that Pakatan Rakyat has won a simple majority to form government; 4) that PR has won two-thirds majority and forms government; and 5) a hung parliament, where neither side has the clear advantage.

While this article does not attempt to elaborate on the ramifications of each scenario – there isn’t enough space – what I would like to do is ask us to consider what it is that we can do, in our own little ways.

First and foremost: be calm. No matter what happens, ensure the safety of your immediate family members and your property.

In other words, after polling ends it is best to head home and to stay home, just like what we did after GE12.

Secondly: stay connected. Most online portals that night will be flooded with visitors (or DDOS attacks), so be mindful that some might be down or slow with information.

In fact, keep on hand a list of key phone numbers – close friends, party activists, journalists. And in case the Internet and phone lines get congested, just enjoy the evening. And watch some TV, maybe.

Next: double check your source before sharing that email, SMS, FB update, or tweet. Don’t spread unverified accounts of whatever you think is happening somewhere where you’re not. Check, double check, and in fact triple check – it is better to err on the side of caution than to be the boy that cried wolf.

Four: no matter what happens, stay safe. Don’t take unnecessary risks like driving out around town waving flags and such (it is an election offence to campaign after midnight into polling day).

On a more party political level, at least three key things we have to bear in mind:

One: Ensuring the safety of candidates who have been declared winners, to avoid them from being “bought” by or “convinced” to join the “other side” (whichever side that may be);

Two: Securing the sites of government, both on a state and federal level. This means putting in place safeguards promptly, to ensure that key documents are not ferried out nor destroyed by the outgoing parties.

To this end, official security services – namely Polis Di Raja Malaysia – must maintain a neutral stance and assist in the peaceful and democratic transition of government.

Three: Formation of government, which involves meeting the heads of state as well as the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and convincing them that the parties forming government do indeed have “the numbers” to do so.

Obviously this is not a comprehensive nor exhaustive study of the first 24 hours after GE13. But what I would like readers to walk away with is a sense that as Malaysians, we need to begin imagining these crucial and critical hours of our nation’s history, to be comfortable with the thought of what may take place, and most importantly: to be prepared, come what may.

(First appeared on SelangorTimes on 10th August 2012)

Change must come but not with violence

A few days ago, I read an article by Liew Chin Tong, the MP for Bukit Bendera, entitled “The Last Mile” (The Rocket, July 2, 2012).

In that article, Chin Tong recalls how on July 2, 1997, the foundations for the beginning of the end of Malaysia’s ancient régime was unconsciously laid – the destabilisation of regional currencies and subsequently economies – as well as the national political maelstrom that followed soon after – marked a tectonic shift in the progression of our national narrative.

Today, after a long and arduous journey of 15 years where Malaysians had to endure everything from sodomy charges to submarine scandals, change has irrefutably and more importantly irreversibly arrived at the doorsteps of Putrajaya.

And the ancien régime is afraid. Very afraid.

Numerous analysts and writers have presented their prognoses of GE13: 1) outright victory for Barisan Nasional; 2) slim victory for Barisan Nasional; 3) hung parliament; 4) slim victory for Pakatan Rakyat; 5) outright victory for Pakatan Rakyat.

Some postulate that BN will be the victors of the upcoming general election, but Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak may not survive the internal tribulations of Umno if the result is not far better than former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s 2008 showing.

Some suggest that the internal machinations of Umno may see Najib’s attempts being sabotaged.

Indeed, when we look at how the police unleashed their unholy fury on the journalists and attendees of Bersih 3.0, and when we see BN Backbenchers like Datuk Mohd Aziz (MP for Sri Gading) asking if Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan should be hanged, and when we see even the deputy prime minister saying that he is a “Malay first, and a Malaysian second” which some have read as a challenge to Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, such a proposal is not hard to imagine.

But I think we are not spending enough effort and time to collectively imagine what the days following GE13 will be like.

If power changes hands at the federal level, what immediate steps should the rakyat take to ensure peace and calm? Or if power does not change hands, for whatever reason(s), what is the rakyat’s course of action?

Or, if status quo is maintained… what then?

To me, whatever the outcome, as Malaysians, we must maintain civility and uphold the principles of non-violent efforts for change. This is paramount.

For while we seek change, and change must come, violence is never the answer.

Beyond the first few days, and should change take place, I believe we must lay bare the realities of governing a post-BN federal government.

The question of priorities of our goals and aims – the “low-hanging fruits” as has been discussed in some circles – must be presented and discussed: Should we aim to balance the budget quickly? Should we immediately repeal the PPPA, SOSMA, 114A?

What about the composition of Dewan Negara? How should we go about retraining and re-deploying police personnel to more effectively combat crime?

Is decentralisation of federal power immediately a realisable goal?

Equally important is the question of “amnesty” and the “sins of the past”.

What methods and means should we employ to ascertain the level of culpability? How will we practicably recover national assets?

At what point must we stop, forgive, and let go?

Now, more than ever, Malaysia needs to dream again. But it is not a somnambulant dream we need, where we dream and walk with eyes closed, unaware.

Instead, now, more than ever, we need to dream with open eyes.

And to see that a better Malaysia is finally come.

Respon kepada artikel Politik ‘hit and run’ pembangkang oleh Zulkifli Jalil

Kalau pembangkang dikatakan menggunakan taktik ‘hit and run’, pihak kerajaan BN pula boleh dikatakan terkenal dengan taktik ‘throw and hide’ atau ‘baling sembunyi tangan’.

Seorang penduduk Bangsar warga emas yang juga bekas pegawai kerajaan, setelah membaca tulisan Zulkifli Jalil dalam Utusan Malaysia, menggeleng kepala apabila membaca ulasan penulis tersebut yang memberikan label taktik ‘hit and run’ kerana pada pengamatan beliau, di dalam perjuangan politik dan kemerdekaan seluruh dunia, taktik ini diguna para patriot tatkala menghadapi segala jentera kerajaan yang zalim.

“Sewaktu Perang Dunia Kedua, para gerila pejuang penjajah seperti Force 136 di Malaya yang masuk ke Tanah Air dengan kapal selam, French Resistance di Perancis, gerila patriotik di Indonesia, Filipina, China dan banyak lagi menggunakan taktik ‘hit and run’,” ujar beliau dengan nada bersemangat. “Hari ini patriot di Palestin, Tunisia, Libya dan Mesir juga menggunakan taktik yang sama. Kenyataan penulis tersebut sebenarnya mengiktiraf bahawa para pembangkang adalah patriot.”

Menyentuh pula penjelasan pegawai Raja Nong Chik bahawa penduduk bukan sahaja mahukan wakil rakyat yang mendengar luahan hati tetapi mahukan wakil rakyat yang boleh membawa penyelesaian.

“Pakcik senyum kerana teringat waktu muda, masa zaman penjajahan British dan juga Jepun, hujah yang sama diguna tali barut penjajah, iaitu kami diminta jangan mendengar pembangkang yang ketika itu pejuang kemerdekaan, kerana hanya kerajaan British dan sebelumnya Jepun yang boleh membawa pembangunan, bina sekolah, bina jalan dan adakan program-program kemasyarakatan. Jadi saya nak tanya: Raja Nong Chik guna taktik propoganda penjajah kah?”

Pandangan seorang warga emas yang telah melalui pengalaman perjalanan sejarah negara mampu memberikan ‘gambaran besar’ kepada keadaan politik negara serta menilai hujah-hujah Raja Nong Chik yang terpaksa bergantung kepada Utusan Malaysia sebagai lidah rasmi beliau.

Ini disebabkan apabila segala risalah, media sosial dan program Raja Nong Chik gagal menaikkan profil seorang senator yang mahu mengambil nama di atas usaha jentera kerajaan yang memangnya patut berkhidmat untuk rakyat. Seperti skandal NFC yang beliau cuba perjelas kepada penduduk professional Bangsar – timbulnya taktik ‘Lembu punya susu, Sapi dapat nama’ yang beliau gunakan.

Pakcik yang sama juga ketawa besar apabila dibangkit ulasan penulis yang sama mengenai taktik wakil rakyat Lembah Pantai menggunakan gambar jalan berlubang yang di-MMS-kan, kemudian disahut SMS mengatakan ‘DBKL akan selesaikan’ sebagai menggunakan jalan pintas untuk selesaikan masalah.

“Itu bijak namanya. Bayangkan tugas asas pihak berkuasa seluruh dunia adalah memberikan perkhidmatan awam menggunakan cukai dan wang rakyat – seperti membaiki jalan berlubang, lif rosak dan sebagainya. Bukankah itu sememangnya tugas kerajaan?”

“Isu yang penulis sendiri tuliskan mengenai jalan berlubang sepatutnya menjadi tumpuan bukan cara wakil rakyat menarik perhatian kepada masalah tersebut. Kenapa cetek sangat hujah penulis yang berikan nama taktik ini sebagai ‘bashing’ yang pada saya ala propoganda ‘Bashar al-Assad’ saja yang diguna Raja Nong Chik.”

Mungkin penulis itu sedar masih banyak masalah yang wajib diselesaikan DBKL – yang dibawah tanggungjawab Raja Nong Chik – mesti di ‘tutup lubang masalah yang begitu besar’ dan bukan oleh wakil rakyat kerana Datuk Bandar adalah lantikan kerajaan dan bukan dipilih rakyat.

Mengenai taktik ‘menanam rasa benci’ yang di ‘pasak-pasakan’ ke hati rakyat terutamanya pengundi atas pagar yang tidak ada saluran meluahkan perasaan juga dilihat sebagai satu ‘freudian slip’ penulis tersebut yang secara tidak langsung mengiktiraf kebenaran bahawa memang rakyat benci kerajaan yang terbukti gagal mentadbir dengan berkesan ekonomi, sosial, pendidikan, pertahanan, dan keselamatan awam.

Seharusnya segala isu rasuah, hutang negara besar, defisit bajet yang bertambah, kemelesetan anggaran pertumbuhan KDNK, retorik rasis ketuanan Melayu, skandal NFC, PKFZ, KIDEX, SELEX, Scorpene, Istijuara dan seribu satu lagi kepincangan kerajaan yang sudah 55 tahun memerintah wajib diperjelas Raja Nong Chik dan juga Utusan Malaysia.

Tetapi sebaliknya, taktik ‘alih pandangan’ dengan hujah pembangkang membuat tuduhan tanpa memberikan bukti nyata palsu – kerana pertanyaan untuk dokumen, kenyataan dan penjelasan terhadap tuduhan-tuduhan malah di dalam Parlimen pun tidak diendah kerajaan. Jawapan yang diberikan terlalu ringkas, samar dan keluar dari topik terus mencerminkan kelicikan taktik ‘alih pandangan’ yang menjadi kegemaran kerajaan usang BN hingga bukan sahaja ia menjadi taktik ‘lidah bercabang’, tetapi ‘lidah terbelit perut sembelit’.

Dan menyentuh andaian penulis tersebut bahawa dua insiden di Lembah Pantai – program pemberian topi keledar percuma dan hasil tinjauan 3 jam yang hanya menghasilkan satu penemuan risalah BR1M yang menyaran rakyat ambil wang BR1M yang memang wang rakyat tetapi mengundi pembangkang – sebagai membuktikan pihak pembangkang tersepit, amat mengelirukan.

Taktik ‘kelirukan rakyat’ ini dengan menggunakan memori terpilih (‘selective memory’) gagal pula menyebut insiden-insiden yang ditimbulkan kerajaan BN dan Raja Nong Chik seperti melarang wakil rakyat sah menggunakan kemudahan awam seperti dewan dan menziarah masjid dan surau untuk kegiatan setempat, menghalang perjalanan bancian dan culaan daftar pemilih dengan membuat tuduhan palsu dan tangkapan petugas pejabat wakil rakyat dan yang paling ketara – insiden ‘Malam Berdarah Lembah Pantai’ pada 24 Mei 2012 di mana politik samseng BN membaling batu dan botol air mencederakan ramai hadirin termasuk seorang warga emas dan kanak-kanak yang memerlukan rawatan hospital, sengaja tidak disebut.

Mungkin ini adalah taktik ‘baling batu sembunyi tangan’ yang menjadi mercu identiti kerajaan BN yang sebenarnya kerana BN bukan lagi merasa tersepit tetapi terhimpit dengan igauan mendatang apabila segala perbuatan, kesalahan dan dosa-dosa memerintah 55 tahun akan diketahui umum serta kebenaran akan terdedah kepada rakyat dan dunia.

Kesimpulannya, taktik pembangkang bukan sahaja ‘hit and run’ seperti kata Pakcik Bangsar sebagai taktik para patriot di dalam menghadapi jentera kerajaan zalim, tetapi yang mesti dinamakan juga sebagai taktik ‘hit the target and BN falls’.

Fahmi Fadzil
Setiausaha Politik
Wakil Rakyat Lembah Pantai

Let’s keep thuggery out

I have been working for Nurul Izzah and Parti Keadilan Rakyat since October 2010.

When I began, I did not know what I was really getting myself into. I am, by training, a chemical engineer.

But over the years, I’ve donned the hat of a writer, a theatre practitioner, a graphic designer, a teacher, and many others.

Suffice to say that a political activist is but one other hat (or blood-stained medieval helmet) I’ve had to wear.

Before I started, I asked some very close friends if I should get into this thing called “politics” (I’ve come to see it more specifically as “party politics”, because in almost every field of life you will come into contact with politics – office, at home, the theatre, at work, etc).

Some said don’t get into it “because it’s dirty”, while some said the things that I’ve been doing all this while – my writings, The Fairly Current Show interviews, the theatre productions – are all indicative of my own latent and emergent political activism.

In any case, here I am: 20 months of formally working in politics.

Definitely not long, even if I considered my volunteering in the 1999 general election as the start of my political activism.

I’m still relatively a greenhorn, attached to ideals and the ideas of justice and equality still.

Yet these past months have surely tested many an idealist’s resolve.

In particular, let’s reflect on the way in which certain parties have responded to Bersih 3.0.

I refer, of course, to the “butt exercises”, the Merlimau incident where cars were pelted with eggs, and the straight-up intimidation tactics employed to try and cow Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan into silence.

That these parties have specifically targeted Ambiga and not Datuk A Samad Said, a co-chair of Bersih 2.0, is particularly telling, so much so that  Samad has come out to ask if these parties are making issue of Ambiga because of her gender, ethnicity, and religion.

If that is the case – and for many it appears to be so – then such thuggish politics must stop.

In Lembah Pantai as well I have witnessed many examples of thug politics.

In the case of the eviction of residents from the PKNS flats in Kg Kerinchi, several youths who were trying to protect the rights of the remaining residents were physically assaulted by “outsiders” who had been brought in by irresponsible parties – to this day, we have not received word if these “outsiders” will be charged.

Likewise, the case of a threatening SMS received by Nurul Izzah, with a veiled reference to harming her daughter.

And again, more recently, when Nurul Izzah was to do some programmes in PPR Pantai Ria, the hall was blocked at the very last minute by unknown (influential) parties.

What is it about Ambiga and Nurul Izzah which frightens their opponents so?

To the point that their positions and political ideas can no longer be confronted by words, but by fists and/or rear ends? To the point that acts that obviously cross legal lines appear to bring no reprimand against the perpetrators, bringing to fore the lack of political will by the authorities in curbing thug politics?

Malaysia is very obviously at a crossroad, and we must be very careful in picking the path with which we will go forward.

Whatever our ideological differences may be, whatever partisan persuasions we might have, let us be committed and work hard to ensure that we keep thuggery out of politics.

Waiting for…

...Godot?

(Apologies to S Beckett.)

In the mean time, there’s a lot going in Sydney with regards allegations of large expenditures on “toiles” and more – allegedly in the range of AUSD100,000 – but who knows? Here’s the originating story by Frockwriter, some days later in the Sydney Morning Herald, and the public relations “badminton” in the news (denial by Rosmahdenial by the designer, and the unmoved writers).

Does it matter if Rosmah Mansor had indeed spent that amount of money wherever she may have been? Not if it’s her own.

But what if it’s not her’s, but rather the taxpayer’s?

Berapa banyak you kena jimat kalau nak cincin USD24j?

Aku Jimat app home page

So a few days ago, after a rather tense meeting discussing the political scenario in Malaysia, a friend brought to my attention a new iPhone/iPad/iPod application, called ‘Aku Jimat‘. Succinctly, it’s a game where you collect falling coins and dodge bombs that,  instead of killing you, increases your age. So after you’ve collected enough dosh, you can proceed to the ‘Shopping’ section of the game where you can splurge on various luxuries like handbags, cars, and even a diamond ring (priced at $24 million, no less!). Ultimately, the game is – I guess – trying to inculcate the culture of saving up money to buy what you want early enough in life ;)

On another point, news that top civil servants would be getting huge pay hikes has been met with severe reproach by the rest of the 1.4 million civil servants. Of course, the new Skim Saraan Baru Perkhidmatan Awam (SBPA) has been under such intense fire as even the civil servants union CUEPACS had been shut out of the initial planning stages. Some of the concerns raised include:

  • disproportionate increase in salaries (top-tier would receive some hundred-fold pay raises, while some of the lower-ranked staff get a paltry 3% hike)
  • an ‘exit’ mechanism, where civil servants must get a performance review score of over 70% (later dropped to 60% after pressure from CUEPACS), which after 2 consecutive years of failure they would be asked to leave
  • the subtle issue of a single-tier remuneration scheme and specialization + seniority in the medical sector

In any case, plans for the SBPA to come into effect have been put on hold – twice; once at the end of December, and once again on 12th January – as the resistance from within the civil service was so severe that the Najib administration cannot implement this system wholesale. Of course, if only the administration wasn’t so iron-fisted in its approach – forcing civil servants to sign the papers before they could fully comprehend the magnitude of changes, for example – perhaps this key vote bank for the BN would not have been so resistant to such changes.

Maybe those spearheading the SBPA consultation committee could take some lessons from ‘Aku Jimat’ – be careful in trying to get what you want… otherwise people will make fun of you ;)