A very crucial battle looms

A very crucial battle looms
5 Dec, 2008

In predominantly Malay Kuala Terengganu, the Chinese hold a vital hand. And while a local candidate is all-important, the election stakes go all the way up to Putrajaya.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Suhaini Aznam, The Star

KUALA Terengganu is just one parliamentary seat awash in monsoon rains. Winning or losing will make no difference to the lie of the land. Rather, it is a moral fight.

At stake is the reputation of prime minister-elect Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. At national level, this by-election is his first leadership test - and he knows it.

“We cannot lose this election and then just three months later, have him succeed as party president (and therefore Prime Minister) uncontested,” said state Umno Youth information chief Razali Idris, 42.

But on the ground, voters were busily debating the merits of that all-important candidate.

The people of Terengganu set great store in having an approachable MP on whose door they can knock at all hours of the day and night. Since March, Umno has learnt the hard way that it can no longer field any old face and draw voters on the strength of its party brand name.

So while Umno announced its candidate almost a month before the Jan 17 polling day – in part to allow time for Umno rival camps to cool down and rectify any attempts to sabotage party efforts – PAS decided to wait it out.

Under the watchful eye of 14 truckloads of General Operations Force police brought in to ensure calm, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang named five-term Wakaf Mempelam state assemblyman Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut as its flag bearer in front of some 3,000 party members in a packed indoor stadium on Jan 1.

It was a last-minute switch because Abdul Wahid was not even on the original shortlist of four possible contenders.

At 52, Abdul Wahid is part of the second echelon that will eventually inherit the party under a different political equation. He is a Hadi loyalist, unlike the shortlisted front-runner, Batu Burok assemblyman Dr Syed Azman Ahmad Nawawi whom Razali claimed was already bringing “unsur unsur Anwar” (vestiges of Anwar) to PAS, referring to PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Unlike Anwar’s landslide victory in Permatang Pauh last August, this by-election has no ready icon. So candidates are crucial. PAS had conducted a house-to-house random survey in the three state constituencies of Wakaf Mempelam, Ladang and Batu Burok soon after the Election Commission announced the by-election in early December and found that 80% of the households named Dr Syed Azman as their preferred candidate. The eleventh-hour change of plans could well have been hatched at an afternoon meeting at Abdul Hadi’s home in Rusila, just hours before the announcement was made.

People in Terengganu like friendly, humble leaders who would not hesitate to invite them for a teh tarik. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, 46, having been away a great deal as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s political secretary and later as deputy minister, does not quite fit this bill. Even the owner of an Umno warong passed on “hearsay” that Wan Ahmad was “a bit aloof”, while the PKR Youth officials for Ladang were whooping in joy, anticipating a walkover.

It is an image that Wan Ahmad was trying hard to dispel as he handed out footballs and cut school boys’ hair on his meet-the-people rounds. His advantage is that having been named early, he can go about on his soft campaign long before nomination day on Jan 6.

State PAS treasurer Abdul Wahid, on the other hand, may be an old hand in local politics but is not well-known outside his own state constituency. First impressions of Abdul Wahid are of “a down to earth, kampung man” – an image that served him well in Wakaf Mempelam but might not quite cut it on Parliament’s national stage.

Razali is relieved that PAS chose Abdul Wahid to carry its torch.

“At the state assembly, Abdul Wahid just talks about Umno khianat, Barisan khianat (Umno treachery, Barisan treachery),” he claimed. “Had Syed Azman been the candidate, Umno would have had to work extra hard.”

Given the current nationwide mood for change, even Umno supporters like taxi driver Ismail Salleh, who hails from the PAS stronghold of Marang, thinks that having a bit of Opposition is good so that the Government “would not get too comfortable”.

Development is an old Umno staple and Kuala Terengganu, now a city, has grown tremendously in the past two decades. If Umno is toying with the idea of luring voters with even more development money, well, it might just work in Terengganu where people have long lived in poverty.

Bound by feelings

By comparison, Kelantanese have a tradition of being financially independent, said Ismail, who had once distributed fertilisers there.

“They have no scruples about taking the (Barisan) bait but leaving the hook untouched. Not so in Terengganu, where people are still bound by feelings of terhutang budi (gratitude),” said Ismail, who together with other taxi drivers had each received about RM10,000 in government assistance.

Pak Awang the beca rider too, was convinced that there was nothing wrong in supporting those who had helped out during floods and other hard times.

“When PAS ruled (1999-2004), everything was given to cronies,” he claimed.

Arithmetically, however, PAS has the upper hand, having won three of the four state seats in the last general election. Only Bandar went to MCA.

Nevertheless, state PAS deputy commissioner Datuk Wan Muttalib Embong considers PAS the underdog, by virtue of the Barisan having won Kuala Terengganu by a 628 vote margin last March. So PAS is far from complacent. The week before nomination day, everyone was still calling the odds at 50-50.

Terengganu’s 88% Malay voters have very decided political opinions but unlike their Penang cousins, are rather more reticent in voicing these to strangers.

Nevertheless, locals easily identify eateries by their political leanings.

When searching for the PAS headquarters, a smiling seamstress told me: “Don’t bother asking there, that’s an Umno kedai; the warong across the street is a PAS hangout.”

Political identity stretches even to the ubiquitous handphone - blue means Barisan, green for PAS.

With such clear demarcations by party affiliation, it is the fence-sitters who will swing the day.

Umno is going on a direct-to-voter campaign.

“There will be no huge rallies except for the Prime Minister or his deputy,” said Razali.

“Ministers will not be dragged here and there. They have been assigned specific areas and ballot boxes. If everyone does his job, Barisan officials will be able to meet each voter at least once.”

Umno members make up 40% of Kuala Terengganu voters.

“The reason we lost last March was that not all Umno members voted Umno,” said Razali tersely.

“But even if every Umno member votes Umno this time, we still cannot win the by-election. We still need the fence-sitters.”

From its “war room” of wall charts, events on the board and detailed breakdown of past results, PKR too is targeting this wavering 20% of blue-green voters.

“Anwar had instructed us to work as if we are the ones standing in this election” said state PKR Youth head Fariz Musa, whose team is throwing themselves wholeheartedly into staging large night rallies, complete with personal attacks on Wan Farid.

A decisive component of these fence-sitters are the 8,787 (11.4%) Chinese voters, most of them concentrated in the Bandar and Ladang urban state constituencies.

Soft approach

PAS is approaching them with a soft touch – in keeping with the state’s gentler culture. Three doctors were giving free blood pressure and sugar level health checks under a tent next to a kedai makan.

“The Chinese like this. They then go and buy their own medicine from the Chinese medicine hall,” said Hanafiah Mat, head of the Terengganu PAS Supporters Club.

Hanafiah is comfortable that the Chinese seem to be leaning towards PAS this time.

“Most are retailers who have suffered from the price rise in consumer goods forced on them by wholesalers. But as shopkeepers, they cannot sell their goods because locals cannot afford to buy them,” he said.

“The Chinese are also grateful to PAS for reverting to the name Kg Cina when we came into power, after the Barisan had changed it to Jln Bandar,” he added.

More specifically, no party is fielding a Chinese candidate this time to split the Chinese vote.

“The Chinese in Terengganu tend to follow the Malays. They speak like locals, boleh beri salam (pronounce the Muslim greeting of peace) and identify with their Malay neighbours,” said PKR Ladang branch chairman Abu Bakar Kasim.

Not everyone is as sanguine. Nor should anyone take the inscrutable Chinese vote for granted.

“The Chinese are the silent voters,” noted Meru assemblyman Dr Abdul Rani Osman, one of the PKR volunteers manning the makeshift health clinic.

“You cannot gauge where their votes will go. At most, a few would say “kuih bulan” (mooncakes – referring to PAS’ party symbol) before thanking you for your services.”

By the political countdown, it is early days yet. Much can happen in two weeks.

Already, there is a hint that this is not going to be a simple straight fight between the blues and the greens. Come nomination day on Tuesday, local politicians expect to see at least a five-cornered fight, with Umno tacitly backing a clutch of Independents to split the Opposition vote.

Molested, then told to forget it

Molested, then told to forget it
Jan 06, 2009
New Straits Times / Asia News Network

KAJANG, MALAYSIA: When Cecilia Lee was molested by a medical attendant at a specialist centre, she lodged a police report.

Then, the management of the specialist centre allegedly did the unthinkable, adding insult to injury.

It allegedly demanded she withdraw her report, saying "certain parties" would be bribed so that her case would be forgotten if she did not.

The 25-year-old engineer, however, lodged a second report at the district police headquarters.

Lee had gone to the specialist centre in Cheras on Dec 30.

She was ushered into the X-ray room at 3pm where she was told to remove all her clothing except for a singlet and her panties.

She was then given a cloth to cover her body and told to lie on the examination table.

Lee claimed that while she was lying on the table, the attendant pushed up the cloth, pressed his fingers against her genitals and then pulled down her panties.

When he left the room, she dressed hurriedly and left.

She claimed that before she could leave, the attendant had the nerve to thank her for her cooperation and bade her a good day.

She related the incident to a friend who then took her to lodge the police report.

City Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner II Ku Chin Wah confirmed the report, saying the suspect had been released on bail after his statement had been recorded.

A week after the incident, Lee went back to the specialist centre for a physiotherapy session. After the session, the doctor informed Lee that the management would like a word with her.

"The management asked me to describe what had transpired and I did.

"They then informed me that the attendant had met them and a lawyer had been engaged for him," Lee said yesterday.

"The management said the attendant had a wife and children to support and wanted me to drop the charges.

"They claimed that certain parties would be bribed to ensure that the case was forgotten if I did not withdraw the charges."

Alarmed and feeling threatened, Lee lodged a second report at the Kajang police headquarters on Sunday. -- New Straits Times / Asia News Network

The dark horse of Kuala Terengganu

The dark horse of Kuala Terengganu
2 Jan, 2009

I will support PAS in Kuala Terengganu as a show of good faith and to demonstrate that we have bigger fish to fry. Then I am going to grab PAS by the balls and kick their arse like there is no tomorrow.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

No one expected it to be Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut. The names bandied about were Mohamad Sabu (popularly known as Mat Sabu), Wan Abdul Muttalib Embong (a wealthy lawyer), Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi (PAS State Assemblyman for Batu Burok) and Mustaffa Ali (populary known as Chikgu Pah and the Warlord of PAS Terengganu). But not Wahid Endut, the PAS State Assemblyman for Wakaf Mempelam.

So it is going to be Wahid Endut then. This will be the PAS candidate for the Kuala Terengganu by-election on 17 January 2009. And what will this do to PAS’s chances? The Chinese bookies have placed odds on PAS winning the by-election even before the candidate was known. Is that now going to happen or have the odds been revised?

I, too, have placed a ‘friendly bet’ (no money involved, just drinks) on PAS. And while many have given PAS a mere few hundred votes, or at the most 2,500 votes, I have gone utterly bullish and betted on a 5,000-vote majority for PAS on the basis the candidate was going to be Mat Sabu. If it was any other candidate, I would have reduced my majority drastically and it wouldn’t have been 5,000 votes. But it’s now too late to change my bet.

No one thinks I am going to win the bet though, even if Mat Sabu is the candidate. Many also bet on PAS but they don’t think it can be as high as 5,000 votes. They think I am crazy and am giving PAS too much confidence by betting on a 5,000-vote majority. I am not sure if I will win the bet but I will certainly camp in Kuala Terengganu over the two weeks from Nomination Day to Polling Day and will go all out to campaign for PAS to make sure I will not be poorer by RM500 or so by having to pay for drinks all around.

Before I go on, those of you who would like to contribute a small amount to the Kuala Terengganu by-election effort can do so by sending some money to Tabung Dana Pilihanraya at CIMB Islamic, bank account number 1449-0000017-10-4. I know many will not be able to make it to Kuala Terengganu but you can make up for this by smoking one packet of cigarettes or by drinking one glass of beer less and, instead, send the equivalent amount to the ‘Kuala Terengganu war effort’.

Let’s raise RM1 million for Kuala Terengganu and help in the effort to cut Barisan Nasional’s racism and arrogance down to size. And even if you give just RM10, this RM1 million can be raised easily and in no time at all with no great dent to your pocket. Let’s do it people!

On 28 December 2008, I wrote, in this same column, an article called Issues versus personalitieshttp://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/16408/84/). No mention was made of Wahid because he was not in my list pf possible candidates. Neither was he in the list of the New Straits Times, The Malaysian Insider, or even A. Ghani Ismail, the veteran political analyst -- as the three items below show.

Even PAS leaders were taken by surprise and many are expressing despair at the choice of candidate. To be fair to Wahid though, there is nothing wrong him. He carries no baggage as such. For that matter, Mat Sabu, Mustaffa Ali, Wan Muttalib and Dr Syed Azman carry more ‘baggage’ than Wahid does. It is just that their ‘strong points’ can offset the ‘baggage’ they carry. But baggage they still do carry, nevertheless, although not serious enough to pose any problems.

Wahid is not known outside the state like the four ‘contenders’ and we really can’t label him a ‘national leader’. But ‘less known’ also means ‘less controversy’ and, in the same process, less enemies. And this is how I would sum up Wahid.

Sometimes, however, we need some controversy. ‘Less controversy’ does not necessarily mean ‘less problems’. It can also translate to ‘lower profile’ and therefore less people will know the candidate. But does this really matter? Wahid may be unknown outside Kuala Terengganu, unlike the other four, but it will be the Kuala Terengganu folks who ultimately decide who to vote for and not those from the other states or from the Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners like DAP and PKR.

I have said this before and I will say it again. There is not one PAS. There are many PASess. There is PAS Kelantan, PAS Terengganu, PAS Kedah, PAS Perak, PAS Selangor and PAS Pusat. And the many PASess do not tick as one. This is not something new. This has always been so. And that is why we hear conflicting and opposite ‘noise’ from each faction of PAS -- which at times can be quite confusing to those who would love to like and trust PAS but can’t quite figure out how to do so with the ‘mixed signals’ PAS is sending out.

This may sound terrible to those who are used to the Barisan Nasional culture of control from the centre. In Barisan Nasional there is only one coalition, the one that Umno controls. And no one can deny that Umno decides everything and no one within Umno or from the other coalition members can go against what the top Umno leadership wants -- that is final, no negotiations on the matter.

In Pakatan Rakyat this does not apply though. PAS, DAP and PKR have their own views of things. We can’t say that any one party calls the shots in Pakatan Rakyat. So, in that sense, there is no ‘boss’ in Pakatan Rakyat. Even Anwar Ibrahim is not able to control the motley crew, as would be no other way of describing them. Then, within PAS, DAP and PKR, there are again different factions. Even internally, within PAS, DAP and PKR Selangor, there are many factions, as the recent goings-on in Selangor have shown. PAS, DAP and PKR Selangor appear to have many internal problems and much dirty linen has been aired in public.

Those who are used to seeing a strong hand from the centre when it comes to Barisan Nasional just can’t imagine a credible opposition with Pakatan Rakyat having so much inter-party and intra-party ‘disunity’. And this is not just inter-party and intra-party ‘disunity’ at national level but at state level as well. Many have said that Pakatan Rakyat is ‘disintegrating’ and that the opposition coalition will not last. And the proof is all around -- and as far as they are concerned this can’t be disputed.

As I always say, you see the half glass of water as half full or half empty, depending on how you see things. Barisan Nasional is also fragmented. But the Barisan Nasional glass is half full while the Pakatan Rakyat glass is half empty. But is not the half empty or half full glass equally half a glass of water? Why the different yardsticks when comparing Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat?

The fact that no one party controls Pakatan Rakyat the way Umno controls Barisan Nasional may not be good for the opposition coalition but is certainly good for the people. This means Pakatan Rakyat, or any one member in Pakatan Rakyat, will never have the political hegemony like in Barisan Nasional. No one party in Pakatan Rakyat is too strong. So no one party can become the boss or the gangster warlord.

And the coming Kuala Terengganu by-election has demonstrated this. Neither DAP or PKR calls the shots in Pakatan Rakyat. And neither does PAS. In fact, PAS can’t even call the shots in Terengganu. PAS Terengganu, not PAS Pusat, decides what happens in Terengganu. And, as much as DAP, PKR of PAS Pusat may have their own idea of things, what PAS Terengganu wants and not what the others want is what matters in Terengganu.

You can choose to be dismayed at PAS Terengganu’s choice of candidate for the Kuala Terengganu by-election or you can choose to celebrate. The way the candidate was chosen shows no one is the boss or is in complete control. What the people on the ground want is what matters. Other opinions do not count.

Okay, PAS Terengganu has spoken. They want Wahid as their man. I never for one minute thought it would be Wahid. No one, in fact, thought so as well. But I will campaign tooth and nail for Wahid, never mind if I think that is not the best choice or that it was not my choice. If that is PAS Terengganu’s choice then that is good enough for me.

I will look at the big picture. And the big picture must not be about personalities. It must be about issues. And the issue is we need to continue sending messages to those who walk in the corridors of power that enough is enough. Barisan Nasional has been racist and arrogant for far too long. 50 years is enough. This racism and arrogance must end. And the message must be sent through denying Barisan Nasional the Kuala Terengganu parliament seat.

Politicians understand only one message. And politicians are concerned about only one thing -- winning the elections. If they fail to win then they eventually get the message.

8 March 2008 was one message we sent Barisan Nasional. The Permatang Pauh by-election was the second message. But both messages fell on deaf ears. So we must, yet again, send them another message. And this message must be to deny them the Kuala Terengganu seat. And we have to keep sending messages as long as they remain deaf. That is the only way and no other way.

So, meet you in Kuala Terengganu. If you can’t go then at least send PAS some money to help them finance the by-election. And let’s kick Umno into the South China Sea like we kicked them into the Indian Ocean in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

Sure, I too don’t agree with much of what PAS is doing and saying. I too feel that PAS needs to address matters involving civil society and that they are not doing enough in this area. But I will support PAS in Kuala Terengganu as a show of good faith and to demonstrate that we have bigger fish to fry. Then I am going to grab PAS by the balls and kick their arse like there is no tomorrow. (

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When Pas spiritual chief Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat jumped the gun and announced last week that Mohamed Sabu alias Mat Sabu was his choice as candidate for the Jan 17 Kuala Terengganu by-election, he was trying to use his stature to stampede the party into NOT choosing a candidate from the conservative Ulama group led by president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Nik Aziz is now alligned to the party's Erdogan faction, who has thrown its lot behind Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader who has close ties with the Turkish leader. And Mohamed, considered a moderate, is more acceptable to the Erdogan faction.

Herein lies the dilemma before Pas — pick Mohamed, the popular, seasoned campaigner but an "outsider" in the state and face a possible defeat or place the bet on a local boy but a respected Ulama and still face defeat.

It is a Catch-22 situation for the Pas leadership.

Supporters of Hadi are saying a veteran Pas leader like Terengganu Pas commissioner Datuk Mustafa Ali or his deputy Datuk Wan Abdul Muttalib Embong, both locals, stand a better chance against an Umno/BN candidate. DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang has also spoken up for Mohamed, saying he was a good candidate and that the party would work hard to win over the Chinese voters, who form 11 per cent of the electorate of about 80,000. Lim's preference for Mohamed is because the latter is a moderate, and has worked with DAP and human rights NGOs like Suaram and BERSIH over numerous issues ranging from urban squatters to human rights abuses.

Mohamed's supporters — both in Pas and in the opposition ranks — believe that if he is selected it would be easier to woo the crucial Chinese voters who, in the event Malay votes are split equally between Pas and Umno, would be the kingmakers. It is also easier for the DAP to campaign for Mohamed and more difficult to back Mustafa or Wan Muttalib, who are hardliners and leading conservative voices in Pas. Both are also lesser known to the Chinese community compared with Mohamed.

These are considerations the Pas leadership is weighing.

The dilemma is compounded by the fact that the voting trend in Kuala Terengganu since the 1986 general election shows that an "outsider" gets fewer votes compared to a local. Pas leaders estimate that about 2,000 votes will stray from Pas if an outside candidate like Mohamed, who is from Penang, is fielded as the candidate. As evidence they point to the fact that although the majority of voters voted opposition in the state seats in the Kuala Terengganu constituency in the March 2008 election, the votes for Mohamed in the parliamentary election saw a 2,000 vote shortfall.

This means the 2,000 voted for Pas but not for Mohamed.

"We blame these discrepancies on the 'local-outsider' factor," said a top Pas leader requesting anonymity. "It sounds stupid as we are all Malaysians but it is a known fact that local candidates have an edge over non-locals."

There are larger issues besides the "local versus outsider" issue. Much of this has to do with the Hadi and his vision of the party, Islam and Malay society. Terengganu is Hadi's home state and he wants to play the key role in the by-election battle and play it his way, Pas insiders said.

"He wants to lead and win and does not want others overshadowing his lead," insiders said referring to both Anwar and Lim as possible individuals who could take the limelight away.

Hadi also feels, they said, that the Malays are finally turning to Islam and to Pas for leadership and direction in the face of uncertainties in Malay society since the March 8 general election. "He sees opportunity here for Pas and for Islam to lead the way for the Malays at a troubled time... not any other idealogy," they said.

Malay society, they said, has been roiled by Umno's constant harping on the loss of Malay supremacy and attacks on Anwar as a traitor. "All these and other issues have confused and raised fears among the Malays."

"Even the Malay Rulers are re-exerting themselves… Pas leaders believe the conditions are now right for Malays to return to Islam and they want Pas to play the ultimate role as protector and guide for the future," they said.

In this context, supporters of Hadi say, the by-election is crucial for them to show that Islam and Pas is the way forward for the Malays. (Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider, 9 December 2008)

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Will Pas pick Batu Burok State Assemblyman Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi as its candidate for the Kuala Terengganu by-election? He is a popular figure among voters -- at least according to two opinion polls conducted recently.

One involved 700 voters. When asked whom they preferred as the Pas candidate, 82 per cent picked Syed Azman, the former Kuala Terengganu Member of Parliament, over vice-president Mohamad Sabu and state Pas commissioner Datuk Mustaffa Ali.

More than 20 per cent of the 622 respondents in the other poll also wanted Syed Azman as the candidate. Next was Mohamad Sabu, followed by Terengganu Pas deputy chief Wan Muttalib Embong and Mustaffa.

On Wednesday, on his return from the haj, Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said Pas would consider all views, including those of bloggers and those in poison-pen letters, to determine the candidate for the Jan 17 by-election as the right choice was "the single most important aspect in facing Barisan Nasional in the by-election".

Party spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat had suggested that Mohamad Sabu be re-nominated and this will be taken into account despite opposition from Terengganu Pas Youth that Mohamad Sabu is not a local. Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP leaders are also in favour of Mohamad Sabu being fielded despite his failed debut in March.

But these are just names being bandied about. The Pas central committee is expected to decide on a candidate at its meeting in Kuala Terengganu on Sunday. The names will then be submitted for endorsement by the Majlis Syura Ulama or Consultative Council of Religious Scholars before an announcement is made on Jan 1, 2009.

"Sunday's meeting will deliberate on the nominations for the candidacy from Terengganu Pas," said deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, who is the by-election director.

On the other side, the list of prospective Umno candidates keeps getting longer as party members await an announcement from deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the menteri besar's official residence tomorrow. Umno is said to be wooing independent religious speaker Wan Sohor Leman, an International Islamic University lecturer, although Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Ahmad and senior state education officer Mohd Zuber Embong remain popular bets.

But several local Umno and Pas leaders are sceptical since most of Wan Sohor's family members, who reside in Ladang, one of the three state constituencies under Pas in Kuala Terengganu, are known to be Pas supporters. The by-election is shaping into a possible multi-cornered contest but the main bout will be between arch-rivals Umno and Pas. (New Straits Times, 19 December 2008)

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While the Barisan Nasional will have against her the stubborn inflation resulting from the fuel price-hike that was clearly a bad boob, for the Pas it is a challenge against Terengganu’s parochial thickness if the party chooses again to field Mohammad (Mat) Sabu for the January 17 by-election.

Unlike in Kelantan where many “outsiders” have won in elections running as Pas’ candidates, the same does not hold true in Terengganu. Even the brand new Pas Secretary-General failed in his bid to breach the difficulty in the 8 March polls. He contested in Besut.

Mat Sabu lost on 8 March 2008 by 628 votes in Kuala Terengganu because he was not a domicile. There’s no other reason that can explain why the “imported candidate” had lost as narrowly as he did.

Kuala Terengganu is a hard place for the BN to win too. Voters gave three from four state seats within the federal constituency to Pas, with the total votes exceeding the BN take by 2,283, meaning Mat Sabu ought to have won.

But if the Pas were to opt for Wan Muttalib Embong instead, or Dr. Syed Azman Syed Ahmad who won in Batu Burok (Kuala Terengganu), the BN, which is likely to choose the educationist, Zuber Embong, or the CEO of the Religious Council, Alwi Mohamad, will have to fight tooth-and-nail to keep the parliamentary seat in this by-election.

Kuala Terengganu passed from the BN to Semangat 46 in 1990 and then to Pas in 1999. It can go either way once again, the BN being sadly depressed by the general disenchantment arising from the out-of-control prices of goods and mainly of foodstuff. Prices of foodstuff kept going up in Malaysia after the prices of fuel at the stands were reduced since the price of oil had gone down from the record of USD 147 to below USD 36. There’s no way for the government to explain this sad failure without making voters cry foul louder than otherwise.

On the brighter side in Kuala Terengganu are the facts the present state government was chosen by the palace and the sultan will be chairman of the Terengganu Investment Authority where RM 10 billion of the state’s sovereign fund shall be deposited.

Sultan Mizan, who is presently the Yang Dipertuan Agong (Malaysia’s King), is highly respected in the state for himself and not merely as a constitutional ruler. He and his household have conducted themselves beyond a mist of reproach. The sultan is above party politics, of course, but the gist of the fact he chose the present state government against the wishes of the Prime Minister is a big plus for the BN.

The previous Terengganu state government had been cruelly mangled by federal intrusions that introduced the jinxed “Typhoon Cup”, said businessman, Syed Muhammad, a grandson of the famous savant, Tok Ku Paloh. Like the cherry on the cake, this year’s Typhoon Cup was held while Kuala Terengganu was flooded.

In a recent move the state government was seen to have weeded out the poorer performers in the state capital, paving a path for a more efficient team to finally commercialise and industrialise oil-laden Terengganu instead of being dependent on tourism. The tourism binge had been a follow-through of the Monsoon Cup. It gave Kuala Trengganu a classy façade of a crystal mosque and a miniature Taj Mahal, some jobs and a face-lift. Those artifacts on Pulau Wan Man off Kuala Terengganu did draw more than 1.5 million sightseers this year.

But how all that would improve the state’s human resources and lead into a sustainable economy after the oil and gas are gone, is beyond easy reach of sensible minds. Is Terengganu too primitive to be thinking half as loud as Dubai? Is it true Terengganu’s ship-building industry is quite recent and found only on Pulau Duyung opposite Kuala Terengganu?

Ocean-going ships of three to five masts were built in various locations of Terengganu from as early as the 14th century according to available records and chances are, the ship-building had been there several centuries earlier.

Terengganu was the second Malay kingdom on the Peninsula after Patani and it was already a Muslim country long before Islam reached Malacca with the conversion of Parameswara in 1411.

Trengganu was ahead in this maritime region with a strong ship-building industry, gold mining and metallurgy, silk and fabrics that still survive as batik and songket, and agriculture and fisheries.

Terengganu was an industrial leader in the region, and probably the leading ship-builder in the whole of Nusantara even after Aceh began building her large ships of war in the 16th century under IskandarMuda and Iskandar Thani, and then when the woman, Malayahati, was Laksamana (Admiral).

Hence people in the coastal state have asked where has the will puffed to deter setting sail for the gone-glory?

The Malay Archipelago (The Spice Islands) remained the largest contributor to the world GDP even during the initial encounter with the Occident before widespread colonization was forged by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Kuala Terengganu was a ship-building and industrial port that was looking eastwards during those times when China was a big maritime power.

Now, after decades of oil-wealth, it does sound ludicrous to be busily gearing Kuala Terengganu into a tourism hub, spending billions on glassy enchantments in the murk of the muara (river mouth) while the people are left without understanding even how a tungsten-bulb is made.

It is certainly time to change the direction of government in Terengganu and this is what is being accomplished, beginning with the sultan’s intervention following the 8 March elections.

There’s an air of expectation in Terengganu. Will that translate into a larger-than-normal winning number of votes for the BN on January 17 is what’s left to be seen. (A. Ghani Ismail, http://naningku.blogspot.com/ 19 December 2008)

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EDITOR’S NOTE

To those who wish to donate to the Kuala Terengganu by-election effort you can bank in the money to the following bank account:

Tabung Dana Pilihanraya
CIMB Islamic
Bank account number: 1449-0000017-10-4

Spotlight on Najib

Spotlight on Najib
31 Dec, 2008

How Najib and the remorseless Mahathir get along will be keenly watched in 2009. Will their relationship grate (as that of Mahathir and Abdullah) or will it be balmy as some political insiders believe it will surely be. Regardless, it is a time-honoured political truism that no man newly in power would want to be babysat by a former mentor.

CORRIDORS OF POWER

By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star

THE year opens with a bang with the upcoming Jan 17 Kuala Terengganu by-election which will see a battle between traditional rivals – Umno and PAS – for the hearts and minds of mostly Malay voters.

Although just a by-election and while a victory or defeat would not alter the power balance in parliament, it will carry a national dimension because the outcome will be seen as a barometer of acceptance or rejection of the rival political coalitions by the Malays,

The key political event for Barisan Nasional and the country is the departure of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March after five years as prime minister. He is set to hand over the reins to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after the Umno general assembly in the fourth week of March.

All eyes would thereafter be on the new man Najib, the son of Malaysia’s revered second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak.

Focus will be on who he picks for his cabinet, those who will articulate his vision, and how he interacts with non-Malays and ease their economic and political fears.

The rise of Najib will also see the final eclipse of many holdovers from the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad era; classic examples being Wanita leader Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. Although many of their time will depart the political scene, Dr Mahathir who had presided over their long careers, is expected to see a rebirth of his political fortunes in 2009. Already he is a hit in cyberspace with millions of visitors to his Chedet.com website where he, as usual, speaks his mind on a variety of issues ranging from his favourite, the failings of his hand-picked successor Abdullah, to little known issues like MCA founder Tun Tan Cheng Lock’s view of citizenship for non-Malays.

How Najib and the remorseless Mahathir get along will be keenly watched in 2009. Will their relationship grate (as that of Mahathir and Abdullah) or will it be balmy as some political insiders believe it will surely be. Regardless, it is a time-honoured political truism that no man newly in power would want to be babysat by a former mentor.

With or without Dr Mahathir in the shadows, the focus remains on Najib and how he will handle the thorniest issues of the day – race relations, reforms and winning back the political support the BN and Umno lost to the opposition.

Najib is still an unknown story despite being in government for nearly three decades. He is said to be excellent at breaking down complex issues into manageable pieces. He also understands the civil service and is patient and not easily ruffled. These are qualities that have helped him survive the cutthroat world of Umno politics and his recent confrontations with the opposition. We will however only get to see the real Najib (and his policies) after he formally takes over as prime minister.

“It will most likely be a year of reforms … the reforms that Abdullah started and Najib has promised to carry on,” says Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

“I see in 2009 the start of the reform process in the ruling Barisan coalition. Reform of the ISA, press laws and election rules are all included,” he said.

Others are less optimistic, predicting that Najib will be selective in his reform plans so as not to upset the political establishment and entrenched forces in Umno.

Najib has his work cut out for him – reforms, winning back lost political support, rebuilding Umno and getting Barisan going again.

He does not have the luxury of time as he has to also quell a possible rebellion in Sabah and prepare for an earlier-than-expected election in Sarawak where the opposition plans to work their magic among the Dayaks said to be on the warpath.

He has also to ward off the constant threat from the opposition to win over government backbenchers and topple the government – although that threat has somewhat receded.

But overshadowing everything else in 2009 is still the global economic downturn.

The fear of business collapses, jobs lost, depletion of savings and rising cost of living is already tangible and is expected to deepen in 2009.

If the situation does worsen and our economy is hit hard, the resulting negative impact will significantly colour national politics and the daily life of the people.

Going by precedence, there will be more protests as more people are laid off, and consequently more repression to maintain public peace. In the past, periods of economic turmoil has always been followed by political upheavals. An exception to this is unlikely unless the contagion is brief and largely benign.

At a recent meeting of financial experts, Najib stressed that the country needed “stability” over everything else, to cope with the economic crisis that was enveloping the world.

“The 2008 general election is over,” he told the meeting, implying it was time for politics to take a backseat so that the economic issues could be tackled.

That is how 2009 is likely to be.

Does MCA support Hudud?

Does MCA support Hudud?
4 Jan, 2009

You MCA Chinese are the worst kind. At least PAS and DAP are honest about what their stands are. You just throw the cat amongst the pigeons and stir racial and religious issues to divide Malaysians and to make them hate each other. You are dangerous Chinese.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I am going to suggest that Malaysians boycott the mainstream media for the next two weeks beginning from Monday, 5 January 2009. This is to teach them a lesson that they can’t keep spinning and lying to us and continue to get away with it.

Look at how they are spinning the Indian issue to give an impression that the Indians have abandoned the opposition. Are they trying to suggest that all the Indian Wakil Rakyat in Pakatan Rakyat are that stupid to not realise that they came into office not on Indian votes alone?

There is not a single seat in any of the Parliament and State constituencies where there are more than 30% Indian voters in the constituency. Maybe ten seats or so will have roughly 20% Indian voters. But that is about it. This means there is not a single seat in the whole of Malaysia where the Indians form a majority.

You could probably find a few seats where the Chinese form a majority. But it is only a handful of seats and not enough to form even a state government. For Malay-majority seats, however, there are many. Some seats are 97% or 98% Malay. But most hover around 70% to 90%. Putrajaya is 98% Malay, Kuala Terengganu is 89%, Permatang Pauh is 79%; just to name a few.

So, as Ali Rustam said in 2007 during the PPP convention in Melaka, Umno can form the government just on Malay votes alone. This is, of course, on condition that the Malays are solidly behind Umno and are not split -- like they are now and like they have always been since Merdeka.

So there are two things to note here, which the mainstream media is hiding from us.

Firstly, no Indian Wakil Rakyat can make it just on Indian support -- even if he or she gets 100% of the Indian votes. And they can never get 100% Indian support. So they need the Malay and Chinese votes as well. Therefore, how can the Indian Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen/women harp on ‘Indian issues’? Even Samy Velu admitted, more than once, that he needs Malay votes to win the election. And this is in a “Chinese Communist” constituency like Sungai Siput mind you.

Next, the Malays have always been, and always will be, split almost 50:50. That is because we have PAS around. If the Chinese ‘kill’ PAS, then the Malays will only have Umno to vote for. An Umno with 100% Malay support would mean that Umno no longer needs the Chinese and Indians, or those from Sabah and Sarawak -- as Ali Rustam said in 2007, may I add.

Do the Chinese really want to put PAS out of business? If PAS ‘dies’ then Umno, and not DAP, will get the Malay votes. And this will make Umno very powerful -- powerful enough to not need Chinese and Indian support. Are the Chinese that stupid? Do the Chinese not understand the game of divide and rule? Would it not be better that the Malays are split 50:50 between Umno and PAS? Or is it better that PAS dies and 100% of the Malays unite under Umno?

Come on! Use your brains lah! Don’t fall for the mainstream media spin. The Star is MCA owned. The New Straits TimesBodoh lah!

Today, The Star said: MCA dares DAP on hudud. Okay, MCA has challenged DAP to state its stand on Hudud. Did DAP not say so many, many, many times that it DOES NOT support Hudud? Did DAP not leave the opposition coalition, Barisan Alternatif, soon after PAS proposed Hudud in Terengganu in 2002? What more do you want DAP to say?

Hey, read my lips, MCA. DAP does not, I repeat, DOES NOT support Hudud. And they have very honestly said so many, many, many times. What we DO want to know is: what is MCA’s stand on Hudud? MCA has not made its stand clear. Can MCA, once and for all, state its stand on Hudud?

MCA, do you or don’t you support Hudud? Speak up now or forever hold your tongue. Are you pro-Islam or anti-Islam? Please tell us now and make it very clear. Tomorrow we are going to Terengganu to campaign for PAS and we want to know what to tell the Kuala Terengganu voters. And it will either be “MCA is anti-Islam” or “MCA is pro-Hudud”. And you can bet your sweet ninny I am going to milk this cow till the tits become sore.

And while we are at it, MCA, please also give us your comments on the news items below. We want to know your stand -- and make it very clear because we are going to talk to the Kuala Terengganu voters about these matters as well.

Over to you, MCA!

You MCA Chinese are the worst kind. At least PAS and DAP are honest about what their stands are. You just throw the cat amongst the pigeons and stir racial and religious issues to divide Malaysians and to make them hate each other. You are dangerous Chinese. It is Chinese like you who trigger race and religious conflicts. Are you trying to turn Malaysia into another Beirut or what? You are the cause of tragedies like ‘May 13’. The Chinese should skin you alive and leave your carcass out in the sun to rot.

Puaka punya Cina MCA! is owned by Umno. You still believe what they say?

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Portuguese Settlement to get own church – finally after 80 years

Christmas Day may be over but Santa is just about to arrive at the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir.

A RM10mil church project is being proposed for settlement — and it comes as welcome news for the community.

State MCA English Speaking Bureau chairman Chock Choon Sin said that the application for the 6,000-strong Catholic community in the area to have their own church had been submitted to the state recently.

“As a traditional Portuguese village set up some 80 years ago, many residents feel that it is time they had their own church.

“Besides easing the burden for senior citizens having to travel into the city to attend services, a nearby church will help the community preserve its centuries-old religious traditions,” he said during a visit to the settlement here recently.

The proposed project will involve the construction of a 600-seat church on a 3ha piece of reclaimed seafront land next to the village, which will also be earmarked as a recreational and green lung area.

The request for a church has been brought up on numerous occasions, including at a forum with former Kota Melaka MP Wong Nai Chee last year.

Village Regedor (headman) Peter Thomas Gomes welcomed the proposal. “Many residents feel that a church should be built here to serve the needs of the community.” - The Star

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Catholic paper may take govt to court on permit condition

Kuala Lumpur: A Catholic newspaper Friday threatened legal action against the Government after being told to stop publishing its Malay language edition in a row over its use of the word "Allah."

The Herald, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the word "Allah" as a translation for "God," with authorities saying "Allah" should be used only by Muslims.

Now the newspaper has been told it must stop publishing its Malay edition while the issue is resolved in the courts, as part of conditions for it to be allowed to continue printing its editions in English, Chinese and Tamil.

Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and publisher of the weekly newspaper, said in a letter to the Home Ministry that it had seven days to revoke its decision or face legal action.

He said he was "totally perplexed" over the suspension which "reeks of ill will and bad faith" and was effectively a punishment for the legal battle that is due to be settled next month.

"We are therefore advised and verily believe that this condition constitutes a serious violation of our constitutional freedom of expression and speech," he said in the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by AFP.

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced race riots in 1969. About 60 per cent of the nation's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims, who dominate the government.

The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians - practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.

The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, has said that more than half Malaysia's Catholics are from indigenous groups, most of whom live on the Borneo island states and who mainly speak Malay. – AFP

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Malaysia Bans Catholic Paper for Use of 'Allah'

The Malaysian government has put a stop to a Catholic newspaper over the use of the word “Allah” in its Malay-language edition, the paper’s editor reported Thursday.

The Malaysian government has put a stop to a Catholic newspaper over the use of the word “Allah” in its Malay-language edition, the paper’s editor reported Thursday.

Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of The Herald weekly newspaper, said the government ordered the Malay edition to stop running until courts resolve a ban on the paper’s use of “Allah” to refer to God, according to the news site Malaysiakini.com.

Malaysia’s Home Ministry reportedly sent a letter saying the newspaper is only allowed to operate its English, Mandarin and Tamil editions. The Herald usually has four editions, including Malay.

“The prohibition amounts to persecution,” Andrew told The Associated Press. “It curtails our freedom of expression and diminishes our rights as citizens…. We are perplexed and we do not think that the prohibition is on solid legal ground.”

Andrew believes the ban is part of a larger government effort to restrict the newspaper, which is the main Roman Catholic weekly in Muslim-majority Malaysia. The newspaper had just renewed its license on Tuesday.

Last year, the newspaper had nearly lost its publishing license for using the word “Allah” as the translation for “God.” Authorities had contended the word “Allah” should only be used by Muslims.

“The constitution says Malay is the national language so why can’t we use the national language in Malaysia,” the paper’s editor told Agence France-Presse.

He noted that many Catholics in Malaysia are “bumiputera” or “son of the soil,” which refers to ethnic Muslim Malays and the indigenous inhabitants in peninsular Malaysia and on Borneo Island who are mostly Christians.

To ban the use of the Malay word for “God” does not make sense because a large portion of Catholics in the country are bumiputera who mainly speak Malay, Andrew argued.

“More than 50 percent of our congregation are bumiputera and two of our bishops are bumiputera,” the editor said.

Andrew said the newspaper sent a letter to the ministry on Friday to appeal the order. If there is no response within seven days or the decision is not retracted, the newspaper will consider taking the Malaysian government to court for violation of the rights of religious minorities.

The court decision on the “Allah” ban, meanwhile, will be decided in the courts next month, according to AP.

Malaysia, which is over 60 percent Muslim, has a long history of religious freedom problems. Several Christian converts from Islam have been denied the right to change their religion on their government identity card.

The government also restricted the Christian blockbuster hit “The Passion of Christ” to only Christian audiences, and Muslims in Malaysia had called for a ban on “Evan Almighty.”

In general, Islam enjoys special privileges in Malaysia as the dominant religion.

Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter

New Year’s Eve celebration tonight has been cancelled!

New Year’s Eve celebration tonight has been cancelled!
31 Dec, 2008

As I sit here smoking my cigar while monitoring the news on the mainstream media I can’t help but feel extremely nauseous. What crap our government is spewing out. I have totally lost my merriment mood and hereby declare by royal decree that the New Year’s Eve celebration tonight has been cancelled.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Mediators to ease tensions
Volunteers to defuse religious, racial disputes in their neighbourhoods

Malaysia's government plans to train special mediators to resolve disputes between neighbours of different races in a bid to prevent communal tensions in the ethnically diverse country, officials said yesterday.

About 300 volunteer community representatives will undergo mediation courses next month as part of the government's efforts to curb racial and religious friction, said Datuk Azman Amin Hassan, director-general of the National Unity and Integration Department.

'They will be residents who can talk to both sides in a dispute to defuse racial problems,' he said.

The authorities have acknowledged that racial polarisation has increased in recent years, even though the Malay Muslim majority still has generally amicable relations with the large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, who are mainly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus.

Malaysia has not suffered major ethnic violence since 1969, when riots fuelled partly by Malay rancour over Chinese wealth left more than 200 people dead. Nevertheless, grievances between ethnic communities have occasionally sparked bloodshed. A dispute between Malays celebrating a wedding and their Indian neighbours who held a funeral at the same time prompted violence that killed six people near Kuala Lumpur in 2001. But in a country where politicians often take charge when racial or religious tensions arise, or are sometimes accused of being the cause of the tensions, it is unclear where the mediators will fit in.

The plan is believed to be the first time that Malaysians are to be formally trained to handle disputes involving different communities and religious groups.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said recently his mission before retirement was to cool racial and religious tensions. 'I am thinking of how to handle the issue of race relations and the issue of religious tensions,' he said two weeks ago. 'Muslims think from their own perspective. Non-Muslims think from their own perspective.'

He had suggested setting up an institution 'where all communities' could take their grievances. The answer could also lie in legislation, clarifying grey areas in laws on religious disputes, he said.

Sociologist Wan Abdul Halim Othman, who will train the mediators, said the programme will initially be implemented in urban areas where the risk of racial disputes is relatively high because multi-ethnic residents live alongside one another. 'We need neutral mediators who can prevent the usual conflicts between neighbours from accumulating and transforming into ethnic problems,' he said. 'In disputes involving different ethnic groups, people...tend to take sides based on race, but nobody mediates.'

The programme will initially be rolled out in Kuala Lumpur, and in Selangor, Penang and Johor states. If successful, it will be implemented nationwide.

Ethnic divisions have deepened amid increasing complaints by minorities about special privileges enjoyed by Malays in jobs, education and other areas. Some also say their religious rights have become secondary to Islam. The government has denied any unfair treatment. - AP

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Election system needs to be reviewed, says Abdul Rashid

Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the country’s election system need to be reviewed to give it autonomous power and total control over the election process, the media included. - Bernama

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Police report lodged against blog

MARAN: The district Umno Youth lodged a police report on the existence of a blog containing insults of Prophet Muhammad, which had stirred anger among Muslims.

State Deputy Criminal Investigation Department Chief Superintendent Mohd Haris Daud said the report was lodged on Saturday by the movement's vice-head Hairul Amin Othman, 33, at the district police station at 3.45pm.

Haris said the movement felt it should fight for Islamic rights as the blog owner had insulted Prophet Muhammad. He said police would carry out investigations under the Sedition Act. - NST

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First, let me talk about Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman’s comment. He said he is going to sue opposition leaders who slander him. Well, maybe Rashid can reflect on the many official meetings the opposition leaders had with him over the last ten years in his office in Putrajaya. I was there, in case Rashid would like to know, and let me remind him how disastrous those meetings turned out to be.

The main grievance was with regards to postal voters. Why do we still need the police and armed forces to vote by post when they are no longer located in the deep jungles of Malaysia for nine months at a stretch? They are all now located in their barracks or quarters and the polling stations are within walking distance from where they live.

All they need to do is walk a few minutes to the polling stations to cast their vote. And they need not do this five days before Polling Day and by post like now. If not because of the postal votes, the opposition would have won all 11 Parliament seats in Kuala Lumpur instead of only 10 like it did on 8 March.

Rashid’s reply to the proposal to abolish the postal voting system is that if they do that then none of the cabinet ministers would be able to retain their seats. When the shocked assembly asked Rashid is not the purpose of the Election Commission to ensure that they run a fair and free election, he shocked the assembly even further by retorting that the purpose of the Election Commission is to ensure that the Malays do not lose political power.

The Malaysian election system is rife with fraud and manipulation. The gerrymandering is preposterous and makes a mockery of democratic elections. Rashid, sue me. Take me to court. I am waiting to meet you in court so that I can reveal all the evidence we accumulated since 1999 about how you have fucked up the election system so bad that, last year, I actually appealed to the opposition to boycott the elections.

I am glad they did not do as I suggested though because 8 March 2008 proved the people were so disgusted and wanted change so bad that the 'big swing' managed to offset the cheating. But imagine if there was no cheating. Today, with a mere 300,000 votes more, Pakatan Rakyat would have formed the federal government. Yes, Pakatan Rakyat missed forming the government by a mere 300,000 votes. The postal votes alone, had they not been all mysteriously marked ‘Barisan Nasional’, would have given Pakatan Rakyat the federal government.

Rashid, you robbed Malaysians of a new government and I hope they have a special hell for people like you.

In 2004, the general election that saw Barisan Nasional perform its best ever, many seats like Kuala Terengganu, Kuala Selangor, etc., saw a 130% voter turnout. The national voter turnout averaged 75% or so. But many opposition strongholds fell to Barisan Nasional because of the more than 100% voter turnout.

What about the hundreds of Indians from Telok Kemang registered as voters in many kampong houses in Ijok during the Ijok by-election? What about the man voting as a woman whom we caught in Putrajaya and who was still allowed to vote, as much as we protested? What about the hundreds of voters having their residential address at graveyards? ‘Pengundi hantu’ maybe? These are but some of the many cases and let me assure you we have much, much more.

So, sue me Rashid. Take me to court, you slime-ball, scumbag and poor excuse for a human, and let all these details surface in my trial. I eagerly await your Writ of Summons.

Next, on the police report made by those Umno cronies against that Blog, which is alleged to have insulted the Prophet. I too made police reports, but which were totally ignored. One police report was with regards to the assault I suffered at the hands of the Criminal Investigation Department head, Bakri Zinin, the gangster in uniform. He beat me up in front of my wife and six other Reformasi activists on Hari Raya Haji Day in 2001.

I was asked about my police report during my ISA detention in 2001 and I told the Special Branch officers that Bakri had the assistance of more than ten other police officers when he beat me up. I then threw a challenge that I would meet Bakri for a one-to-one fight. He is very brave when assisted by ten police officers, I retorted. Meet me for a one-on-one and let’s see if he is still that brave. I was prepared to fight him to the last man standing and I promised that it would be between him and me and, come what may, I will not make it into a police case.

Either the Special Branch did not deliver that message to Bakri or he did not dare accept my one-to-one challenge. Anyway, he later arrested one of my friends who was selling Harakah on the streets and my unfortunate friend was handcuffed and thrown into the police lockup. Since when is it a crime to sell Harakah, the PAS party organ that has a publishing permit?

Bakri subsequently entered the lockup and tried to punch my friend. My friend managed to block the punch and gave Bakri a kick between his legs and got him right on his balls. Bakri went limping out of the lockup, groaning in pain. My friend ended up two weeks in the lockup but he was satisfied like hell and did not mind even if it was two months.

My second police report was against Jakim. Jakim was one of those who got me detained under the ISA recently on grounds that I had insulted Islam and the Prophet. But the government does not allow the ISA detainees to perform their Friday prayers and this was the basis of my police report.

The minister, however, said that ISA detainees and prisoners are not allowed to perform Friday prayers. In the US, prisoners are allowed to perform Friday prayers. Yes, that’s right. In the ‘kafir’ US, prisoners perform their Friday prayers, but not in ‘Islamic’ Malaysia.

Now that is an insult to Islam and the Prophet, a real insult. Why aren’t these ‘Muslims’ perturbed about this? In fact, the highest conversion rate to Islam is in the US prisons. Many prisoners, especially Blacks, become Muslims in prison. This is because Islam is well propagated in the US prisons. But not in Malaysia. In Malaysia you are not even allowed to do Friday prayers.

Finally, on the matter of race relations. One of the charges of my ISA detention was an article I was alleged to have written that said the mosques propagate hate in their sermons. (See what prison has taught me? I now use the term ‘alleged to have written’ so that they can’t use this article to say I admit I wrote that article and then come get my arse, yet again).

My Special Branch interrogators took me to task on this article (which I don’t admit writing, may I add, though it carries my name) and said I am causing racial tensions.

Hey, I replied, the loud speakers blast the Friday prayer sermons for all and sundry to hear. You mean to say the non-Malays do not hear what the imams preach? If the government is worried about race relations then get the mosques to stop these hate sermons. Anyway, is not what I was alleged (note ‘alleged’) to have written true?

The Special Branch officers admitted that it is true but that is not the issue. The issue is I should not have written about it as this may upset the non-Malays and may trigger racial problems.

Aiyoh, the non-Malays already know that Umno, the government, government-controlled mosques, Umno-backed Malay NGOs, and so on, are racists and spread hate, I argued. Whatever I write or do not write is not going to change anything. If the government wants to avoid racial problems then the government should first take the lead and make racism a crime.

Forget about these so-called ‘mediators’ that the government is proposing. It will not solve the problem. The same day the government proposed these mediators, the Umno-backed Malay NGOs organised a demonstration of a couple of thousand to protest the non-Malays ‘questioning Malay rights and privileges’. You think the plan is going to work? Everyone knows that the government and Umno are not sincere about improving race relations. This is just a move to court the 8,000 Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu.

If you really want to solve the problem then introduce a Race Relations Act in the coming session of Parliament. Make it a crime under the new RRA for anyone who makes a racist statement and punishable with a RM20,000 fine or three-year jail term or both. And start indicting some people under the RRA. That will solve the problem.

I know we can’t legislate conduct. I, for one, am against legislating conduct. We need to educate people into behaving properly, not put people who misbehave into jail. But let this be the first step. Then we educate people. We must teach people to be ashamed that they are racist. Only when we are ashamed of being a racist will we stop being one. Meanwhile, until we can educate them, send them to jail first.

Ban the word Bumiputera. Abolish the need to fill in your race and religion in all forms, applications, etc. Why the need to fill in ‘bangsa’ and ‘agama’ in all the forms? Just have ‘warganegara” or nationality (Malaysian or foreigner).

Ban the use of the word ‘pendatang’ for Chinese, Indians and whatnot. How can they be pendatang when they are all born in Malaysia? And why do we say ‘Malay’ and ‘non-Malay’ (or ‘Muslim’ and non-Muslim)? Are the Malays (or Muslims) the ‘benchmark’ while all those who do not fit in to ‘Malay’ (or ‘Muslim’) became ‘non’?

Can you imagine in the US all whites being called ‘White’ and others are called ‘non-White’? Or maybe ‘Christians’ and ‘non-Christians’? I mean, since White-Christians are the majority in the US, then all non-White-Christians should be ‘non’ or classified as ‘immigrants’ (pendatang), just like how we do it in Malaysia.

No, no need for this new ‘mediator’ to be set up. Malaysians can live with each other and not hate each other as long as the government does not become the catalyst for bad race relations, like what is happening now. It is the government and Umno that are spreading hate. What we need is a government and political party in power that knows how to respect all Malaysians and treat all Malaysians as one. That is the root of the problem. And we can’t solve this problem by creating ‘mediators’ when the mediators themselves are racists.

Oh, and maybe we should also ban same-race marriages. By law you must marry outside your race. In 20 years time the majority of Malaysians would no longer be Malays, Chinese, Indians or whatever. They will all become ‘rojak’ like me. And my children are even more rojak with my wife being Thai-Chinese. Now I am a Rojak with a Kojak hairstyle. And see what a delightful chap I turned out to become?

Opening the door to your heart

Opening the door to your heart
30 Dec, 2008

In the run-up to the 8 March 2008 general election, PAS, PKR, DAP, PRM, MDP, PASOK and PSM endorsed the People’s Declaration or Deklarasi Rakyat, which was launched by the civil society movements at the Blog House in Bukit Damansara in Kuala Lumpur.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The title of my piece today is 'borrowed' from the book, ‘Opening the door to your heart’, by Ajahn Brahm, a Buddhist monk. In the first chapter of the book, called ‘Two bad bricks’, Ajahn talks about how he built his first wall. It is very difficult, of course, for one with no bricklaying experience, Ajahn lamented, and he challenged the readers to try building one. Nevertheless, he finally completed the wall and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

To his horror he noticed that two of the bricks were crooked and he felt these two ‘bad bricks’ spoiled the appearance of the wall. He then asked the abbot for permission to tear the wall down and to start all over again. The abbot, however, told him to leave it as it is. Since then Ajahn felt ashamed of his shoddy workmanship.

One day, a visitor visited their monastery and expressed admiration for how the monks had built it from scratch with their own hands and without any outside expert help. Ajahn pointed out that the monastery was actually far from perfect because one of the walls had two bad bricks. The visitor replied that he did not notice it because all he saw was the 998 good bricks, not the two bad ones.

It suddenly dawned upon Ajahn that all this while he was upset about the two bad bricks without noticing the 998 good ones. And to think he actually wanted to tear the wall down because of these two bad bricks while not realising he would be destroying 998 good bricks in the process.

Yes, many see half a glass of water as being half empty rather than half full. And that is also how we see people and situations. We only notice and become concerned about the two bad bricks while totally overlooking the 998 good ones.

And how do we see PAS (the Islamic Party of Malaysia)? Do we see it for the blunder that Husam Musa made during his recent debate with Khairy Jamaluddin or do we see the 998 good bricks in PAS? Husam blundered big time with his retort on Hudud -- thanks to the very clever Khairy who trapped Husam into a corner that resulted in the latter blurting out without thinking. Not only was Husam wrong in saying that Pakatan Rakyat has not dropped the Hudud issue, when it is PAS and not Pakatan Rakyat that is propagating Hudud, but he was also wrong in not repeating what he had said so many times in the past on the matter of Hudud and the Islamic State.

And what was it that Husam and many of the other PAS leaders said so many times in the past? They had said that while the Islamic State is still very much the ideal of the party, PAS, however, is prepared to drop it from their agenda as they realise they will never have the two-thirds majority in parliament to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State.

PAS is pragmatic. Without a doubt they are an Islamic party, so they can’t but talk about Islam. This must be expected just like how the Christian Democrats would never stop talking about Christianity or a Hindu party stop talking about Hinduism. But turning Malaysia into an Islamic State would be a tall order if you do not have at least 150 seats in Parliament. And, as has been pointed out many times in the past, how to get 150 seats when PAS contests only 60 seats and wins not even half those seats?

In other words, I would like to do it but will not because I just can’t do it. I suppose the same goes for many Muslims who would like to marry a second wife but will not because there is no way they can marry a second wife without their first wife skinning them alive -- and we are not talking about foreskin here. Wanting it in your heart but actually doing something about it is a separate matter altogether.

So, PAS has two bad bricks, maybe even ten. But there are one million PAS members, grass-root leaders and national leaders. Are we going to judge and sentence PAS because of two bad bricks, or even ten? Are we going to tear the wall down because of two bad bricks? What about the 998 good bricks, the one million other PAS members and leaders? Do these count for nothing?

Let us look at just some of the 998 ‘good bricks’ in PAS.

In 1990, when PAS first formed the government in Kelantan together with Semangat 46, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the Menteri Besar, summoned the Hindus for a meeting and offered them permission to build a temple in the state. The Hindus were delightfully surprised. For more than a decade they had tried to get the Umno government to approve their request to build a temple but with little success. Suddenly, even before Nik Aziz could warm his seat, he summoned the Hindus for a meeting to grant them permission to build a temple -- even though they had not approached the new state government to ask for it.

In the past, pigs could not be slaughtered in ‘Umno’ Kelantan and pork had to be brought in from the other states. Now, under the new PAS-led government, the Chinese can slaughter pigs in the state.

Yesterday, the Umno-backed Malay NGOs sent PAS a petition protesting the slaughter of pigs in ‘Umno’ Melaka. Hello, why protest to PAS about what is going on in an ‘Umno’ state? And why does the PAS Youth Movement not also send a petition to Nik Aziz to protest the slaughtering of pigs in Kelantan since PAS is supposed to be more radical and intolerant than Umno?

Liquor and beer can still be purchased and consumed in Kelantan, contrary to what is being reported. (The same thing happened in Terengganu when PAS ruled the state from 1999 to 2004. Liquor and beer were not banned). Furthermore, the Chinese can now do business without any hindrance and they no longer need to pay bribes to get things done or approved like in the days of ‘Umno’ Kelantan.

And so on and so forth, the list goes on.

These are but some of the ‘happy stories’ that people relate and there are certainly many, many more. But people do not want to look at the 998 good bricks. They would rather focus on the two bad ones and keep harping on them till the cows come home.

Can we look at PAS’s 998 good bricks and then compare the party to Umno with its so many bad bricks? Sure, Umno does have some good bricks. The party is not 100% bad. But the Umno bad bricks far outnumber its good bricks and you need to use a fine toothcomb to look for these good bricks.

It appears like Hudud is the main and only issue for most to reject PAS. Actually, Hudud is not even an issue any longer. It was a stupid slip that Husam made and which the mainstream media is going to town with. But is life only and all about Hudud, a law which can never be implemented anyway? Surely there is more to life than just Hudud.

What about good governance, transparency, the independence of the judiciary, restoration of the rights of Malaysians, plus an end to corruption, racism, abuse of power, wastage of public funds, and much more? Are these no longer important? Do these 998 good bricks become irrelevant because of the two bad bricks, which were not really that bad in the first place but was a mere perception issue?

In the run-up to the 8 March 2008 general election, PAS, PKR, DAP, PRM, MDP, PASOK and PSM endorsed the People’s Declaration or Deklarasi Rakyat, which was launched by the civil society movements at the Blog House in Bukit Damansara in Kuala Lumpur. These are the 998 good bricks that we should focus on. These 998 good bricks overshadow the two bad bricks -- the blunder Husam made in his debate with Khairy.

Maybe during the Kuala Terengganu by-election campaign PAS should reiterate its stand and reinforce its support for the People’s Declaration. Let the voters, in particular the Chinese, Indians and liberal Malays, see that PAS is committed to reforms and to the propagation of a civil society (masyarakat madani). PAS needs a makeover. It is suffering from a serious image problem. And it is a victim of mainstream media propaganda. PAS needs to correct public perception about what it stands for.

I challenge PAS to prove its critics wrong. Re-endorse the People’s Declaration and prove, once and for all, that a civil society and not the cutting off the hands of thieves is the priority of the party. In response to the move by PAS to, again, endorse the People’s Declaration, the civil society movements, even those whom PAS labels as ‘deviant Muslims’, will go down to the ground to explain the issue to the voters. This, we promise PAS.

I can assure you of one thing. Even those who are not Muslims plus those, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, who are opposed to the setting up of an Islamic State and Hudud will be campaigning for PAS in the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Re-endorse the People’s Declaration and see whether this happens or not.

Hijrah in heart versus symbolic Hijrah

Hijrah in heart versus symbolic Hijrah
29 Dec, 2008

Yes, it is time to let the healing begin. So long has ‘May 13’ lingered in our hearts, to be resurrected time and again whenever an election or by-election looms over the horizon. Racism is tearing this country apart.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kumpulan nasyid UNIC berharap sambutan Maal Hijrah 1430 lebih besar dan konsisten daripada perayaan tahun baru Masihi 2009 yang bakal disambut pada malam 31 Disember ini – Harakah, 29 December 2008

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Yes, Hijrah, the time of the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mekah to Medina 1,430 years ago and the beginning of the Islamic calendar. But what is Hijrah other than a public holiday when all can sleep late and need not get up at 7.00am or earlier to rush to office? To most, Hijrah is but another day to sleep late. To many, Hijrah is when Prophet Muhammad escaped the long arm of the law to seek refuge in Medina. To some, Hijrah is the commemoration of when the Islamic State of Medina came into being. To a handful, Hijrah is about ‘migrating’ from one ‘spiritual form’ to another.

Celebrating Hijrah in a festival-like atmosphere or with ceremony and events is just like celebrating your birthday with the blowing of candles or celebrating your wedding anniversary or Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Merdeka Day, and whatnot. It is a hollow event, one full of rituals but absent of substance. The best ‘celebration’ would be a celebration in the heart and nothing can beat the rohani over jasmani.

Rohani comes from the word roh or spirit and jasmani would, of course, be the non-spirit, meaning physical. Physical minus spirit would be just like a prostitute having sex with you because of the money she is earning. She will certainly pretend to be enjoying it, with sighs and moans thrown in, but all she wants is for you to get it over and done with so that you will get out of her room and she can then service the next client.

We will march on the street and sing songs and fly flags and give speeches to celebrate Hijrah. Then we will go home and live our lives as usual with no change in attitude and mindset. Hijrah was nothing but a physical event. It was something we did. It was not something we felt.

Hijrah was about the Prophet’s migration. Today, it is a ritual we perform, symbolic of that migration. But have we been able to transform that symbolism into spirit? Are we acting out the symbolic Hijrah or are we practicing Hijrah in our hearts?

Hijrah is about change. It is about repentance. It is about transformation. It is about reforms. It is about renaissance. Hijrah is more than just about changing your place of abode to a new address.

If we are racist can we stop being racist? If we are corrupted can we stop being corrupted? If we are a wife-beater can we stop beating our wife? If we love sex with prostitutes can we stop visiting prostitutes? If we steal can we stop stealing? If we oppress people can we stop being an oppressor? If we are violent can we stop all the violence? If we _______ can we stop _______ (fill in the blanks with whatever may be your ‘sin’)?

That is the real meaning of Hijrah. It is about ending your old, wayward and evil ways and adopting a better lifestyle, attitude and mindset. It is not about marching on the street and singing songs and flying flags and giving speeches. Hijrah is about change. It is about repentance. It is about transformation. It is about reforms. It is about renaissance.

Muslims are good at talking and celebrating. But Muslims are yet to learn how to live the life of a good Muslim. And ‘good Muslim’ goes beyond praying, fasting, going to Mekah for the Haj, etc., and beyond shunning liquor, pork, gambling, extra-marital sex and whatnot. That merely makes you a ritualistic Muslim. Even prostitutes perform the rituals of sex without any real feeling. ‘Good Muslim’ begins when compassion, consideration, tolerance, sacrifice, and much more replace greed, lust, envy, jealousy, arrogance, pride, ego, and all those other ills that turn our hearts black.

A human being is born with a white heart, says Islam. No one is born with a black heart. But the heart turns black as the years pile up and as we get closer to our graves. Hijrah is about reversing the process and turning the heart back to white so that we can leave this world and return to our Maker with as white a heart as when we first came into this world.

That is the true meaning of Hijrah, Hijrah in heart, as opposed to symbolic Hijrah.

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I've kept it inside much too long
There's no relief
Carry it around just like a stone
Too heavy for me
I had paid the price
Of standing on the outside looking in
It's time to let the healing begin
A boy is strung out he's going through hell
His mother weeps
His spirit is broken and there's nothing left
Just a terrible need
And the days are marked by the heaviness of the heart
It never mends until the healing begin
And the tension prowls the streets like an animal
The people stay behind their locks and chains
It's a shame
When so many are trying their best to live as one
And the smoke from the fires covers the sun
A young girl is lying in the dirt
Her dreams ended there
Caught in the crossfire on somebody's turf
Hatred in the air
It's a voice that never sings
A winter without the spring
It never ends
It's time to let the healing begin
It's time to let the healing begin

Let The Healing Begin by Joe Cocker

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Yes, it is time to let the healing begin. So long has ‘May 13’ lingered in our hearts, to be resurrected time and again whenever an election or by-election looms over the horizon.

Racism is tearing this country apart. Religious bigotry and intolerance is not far behind as the second ‘time bomb’ that is set to go off if care is not taken. Let the healing begin and let us live the life as what the Prophet said: God made us of different peoples so that we may know one another.

So, let Hijrah, today, be about ‘migrating’ to a new Malaysia where persecution, intolerance, injustice and all those other ills are abandoned the way the Prophet migrated from Mekah to Medina, by order of God, to avoid the same persecution, intolerance, injustice that he too faced.

I will close my piece on how to celebrate the proper Hijrah with the item below.

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The Qur'an and the Vedas

Question: I am a Vedic Sanatana Dharmi. I have full faith in the Islamic concept of Paramatma (the Supreme Spirit). I need you to guide me with a good and correct interpretation of the Qur'an. May Paramatma Allah bless all in a Satyanarayan way!

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Salam, Harsha.

Thank you very much for your question.

It is very heartening to welcome a Vedic Sanatana Dharmi like you, who would identify the Hindu concept of Paramatma with the Islamic concept of Allah.

Indeed the Vedas (the four sacred books that form the foundational religious texts of the Hindus) provide a great deal of insight into the Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Law) of Brahman — the Sanskrit word for God as the Ultimate Reality — Who is considered by Hindus the Source of all existence.

The Hindu belief about the Vedas as the sruti (what was heard) bears a close resemblance to the Muslim idea of wahyu

It is also noteworthy that they are considered nitya (eternal, i.e, without beginning or end) and apauruseya sabdaSrila Jiva Gosvami); and this means that they originated from God. That is to say, the first sages who taught the Vedas may have been prophets to whom God had revealed them originally.

The Qur'anic verses are sruti in the sense of revealed scripture, but with the additional significance that they were written down and preserved intact so that Muslims have been reading them and learning them by heart from the very beginning.

The Qur'an was revealed to the Final of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), and it came as a confirmation and fulfilment of the earlier scriptures revealed to all the prophets of old. In other words, one function of the Qur'an is to confirm the truths in the earlier scriptures and to correct any errors that might have crept into them during their transmission from generation to generation.

There are clues in the Vedas, as well as in Hindu religious history, that point to the possibility that the Vedas were corrupted versions of earlier revealed texts, such as the scriptures sent to the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim). The Oneness of God underscored in the Vedas, as against the common beliefs of the Hindus, is a very important factor, for instance.

There is the verse in the first of the Vedas called the Rig Veda: Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti (Rig Veda:1.164.46) “Truth is One; but the sages call Him by many names”. Indeed, this verse is comparable to the following Qur'anic verses:

Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute (Al-Ikhlas 112:1-2)

Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (Al-Israa' 17:110)

It is to the credit of the religion of Islam (which means submission to God) that it does not limit itself to any particular prophet or to any particular age. Muhammad (peace be on him) was only the final prophet of Islam, and so he never claimed that his religion was a new one, nor do Muslims consider him the founder of Islam.

Hopefully, a close and insightful study of the Qur'an can lead us to a clear understanding of how we can lead a virtuous life in obedience to the One True God.

May He guide us to His Truth!

I hope this answer helps you. Please keep in touch.

Shahul Hameed

Lifted from: http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1152715374930&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE

Or go to: http://tinyurl.com/9ohpxl (divine revelation). You know that the sruti, according to interpreters, were ‘heard’ by the sages of later generations from their predecessors. (revealed knowledge from a superhuman source) (