A passionate plea for help

A passionate plea for help
14 Dec, 2008

It has been narrated that the Prophet said: charity is not about giving away what you don’t need but what you treasure. And I leave it to you to decide if you want to give away what you don’t need or what you treasure in the spirit of the true teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Last night, I had dinner with some friends at the Italian restaurant in Centerpoint. When it came time to pay the bill the three of us fought for the honour. We almost became un-friends because of the ‘argument’ as to who should be allowed to pay for dinner. But when we summoned the headwaiter over, he shook his head and informed us that the bill had already been settled. And he pointed to a smiling family sitting inside the restaurant.

It is ever so often that I never get to pay for my meals. And I am not even taking into consideration the free meals the Malaysian government serves me in the Sungai Buloh Prison and the Kamunting Detention Centre. Total strangers just pick up my bills and after splurging myself silly I walk out of the place with my money still intact in my pocket. And many a time my hosts end up being guests of these strangers as well.

I have to admit that it is most touching and sometimes I find it difficult to smile. It is hard to appear cheerful when one is holding back the emotion of happiness to the point of tears. I suspect many a well-meaning stranger probably went away with the impression that I am not really that friendly after all, seeing that I appeared unhappy at their kind gesture. I certainly cannot cry in public. This will destroy the macho image that I am trying to portray. But even men cry when touched in the heart and I have so many times been touched in the heart by people who I have never met and who hug me and want to belanja me a meal.

I thank you, all you Malaysians who walked up to me to shake my hands, asked for my autograph, requested my permission to take a photograph with me, and much more. I know it is not me per se that you idolise -- because I certainly do not want to be idolised (it is un-Islamic to say the least) -- but that you feel you are contributing to the cause of making this a better Malaysia. And that is all that I am seeking, not to be put on a pedestal and hero-worshipped.

But, today, I am going to ask you to support me on a personal mission, which I am adopting as my latest cause.

There are many out there who have contributed to the cause of making this a better Malaysia. Many are faceless and nameless Malaysians who work quietly and aggressively behind the scenes in the effort to bring changes to Malaysia. One such family is, today, in need of help themselves.

This particular family is now going through their own crisis. Nevertheless, in spite of their predicament, they are still very much in the thick and thin of the struggle. But health problems, and financial problems brought on by their medical predicament, have brought hard times upon them. And it is time that fellow Malaysians rally to their side and assist in any small way that we can to help this family out of their predicament.

The mother of this family has been diagnosed with third-level cancer of the colon and rectum while, simultaneously, the father of the family has suffered a severe heart attack. But they do not have the financial means to seek proper medical treatment and we all know how much this can cost in this country. The total medical cost will be in excess of RM100,000 and, even then, the doctors do not guarantee anything because their cases are quite advanced and the doctors can only hope for the best and leave the rest to prayer.

The family borrowed heavily from friends and relatives for the mother’s operation in September 2008 (around the time I was detained under the Internal Security Act) and now she is surviving with a colostomy bag. But she is not out of the woods yet. She still has cancer. And over the next six months until April 2009 she will have to undergo 12 sessions of chemotherapy followed by five sessions of radiotherapy. The total cost will come to RM86,000.00.

The father of the house, who suffered the heart attack, has undergone an angiogram because, at that point of time, his heart was still very weak and the doctors felt he would not be strong enough to survive surgery. Furthermore, he needed about RM30,000.00 for the Angioplasty, Stent, bye-pass, etc., and he did not have the money for it.

In total, the family will need RM116,000.00 for their medical costs and there is no way they can manage this on their own. I appeal, therefore, to all Malaysians to come forward and help this activist family who did so much and worked very hard these last couple of years to contribute to a better Malaysia. They have done their bit for this country. It is now time we did our bit for them.

I am not asking you to break the bank or to go into debt. Do what you can within your means. The amount you give is not the issue. It is the thought that counts. Just give what you can afford and no need to do more than that. Let it be the cost of a glass of beer or a packet of cigarettes or whatever. So drink one glass less this week or smoke one packet less -- it may be good for you anyway -- and send the money to the family instead.

To Muslims, I have this to say. It has been narrated that the Prophet said: charity is not about giving away what you don’t need but what you treasure. And I leave it to you to decide if you want to give away what you don’t need or what you treasure in the spirit of the true teachings of Prophet Muhammad. Maybe the ‘no pain, no gain’ slogan most aptly describes what the Prophet meant. So, can we, as Muslims, ‘give till it hurts’?

Muslims have just celebrated the Festival of the Sacrifice (Hari Raya Korban) while the Christians will soon be celebrating Christmas. When better than now to live the spirit of Korban and Christmas in the real sense of the word? Let us demonstrate what stuff Malaysians are made of by raising this money in the soonest possible time. I shall later publish copies of the bank statement to show the amount of money that has come in plus copies of the hospital bills to show how the money was spent. It shall all be transparent and above board.

To those who desire to contribute to this cause of mine, the bank account of their son, KEVIN A/L MICHAL JOSEPH, is 1124-4704-3083 (Maybank).

Saturday December 13, 2008

How to become very rich in Malaysia

Connections and the ability to flip assets can get you going places

If you have ever wondered how to get rich in Malaysia – fabulously rich and very quickly at that – here’s a model that you might want to look at very closely. Not easy to do but if you do have a couple of projects in the bag, it will set you up for several lifetimes.

First you need connections – strong ones, the higher the better and if it goes right up to the top all the better. You need this because you need to convince the powers that be that your projects are good.

But you might ask if your projects are so good, why do you need connections? Why don’t you just go out and execute? Good questions, those. Here’s the answer - you need the state to give you something to do the deal that will help the nation.

Still can’t figure it out? See, it’s like this. You want to help the country, right? The country needs say a port. But you can’t build a port just like that. You need land to build a port. You tell the state or federal government you need land – cheap land, preferably free to build the port.

Or to take another example, you want to help the country by building a power plant. But look, you need land too and not only that you need the power to be sold. So you want an agreement – an iron-clad one to sell the power to Tenaga Nasional and to pass through all costs.

You see, that’s your reward as an entrepreneur – you get someone else to build the power plant, they guarantee the performance of the plant and someone else guarantees to buy your power and pay for all your costs. Nice deal? You bet. Billionaires have been made that way.

Or you may want to start an air hub. If you are persuasive enough, you can even convince the government to compulsorily acquire the land and sell it to you cheap. Once you have cheap land, lucrative contracts and concession agreements, the sky’s the limit.

Let’s take it a step further. If you want to realise the value of all of these things that you have and still keep control of them, it’s nice to have a listed company into which you can inject them. Inject one asset for shares and you gain control of the company.

And then inject others over the years for cash, taking the money out of the company. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Do it right and get a flow of assets to inject in (you can do anything with discounted cash flow valuations – just change the discount rate, and presto, the value changes!), and you get a tidy flow of profits and cash into your personal accounts over the years. I mean a really tidy flow.

Just how much can you make this way, you ask? Why don’t you take a guess first? Did you say RM500mil? Guess again. RM1bil? How about five times that and you may be getting into the right order of magnitude.

One Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary actually made some RM4.5bil that way - actually more because he still controls the listed company. (
MMC’s latest RM1.7bil deal irks investors7) We are not saying he is the only one, which makes your chances of joining the ranks better – if you are connected to high places that is.

But then again, if things change – and that’s still a big ‘if’ – you might not find it so easy anymore.

P. Gunasegaram is managing editor of The Star. He thinks it is high time we changed the way we did business

The real meaning of sacrifice

The real meaning of sacrifice
11 Dec, 2008

Is Najib prepared to sacrifice power and position? Is he prepared to give up his post as Deputy Prime Minister and reject the post of Prime Minister that he is expected to take in March 2009? That is the real sacrifice and is what sacrifice is all about.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This is what the New Straits Times reported on 8 December 2008:

Najib: We must make sacrifices

PEKAN: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the significance of Hari Raya Aidil Adha lies in the fact that if Muslims seek to progress and succeed in their endeavours, spiritually and materially, it would not come without sacrifice.

He said the awareness of the need to sacrifice for success should be inculcated in all Muslims.

"The need to sacrifice, which is a blessing from God, is not only a matter of faith but also in our tasks undertaken," he said, at the handing over of 179 head of cattle and two camels to representatives of surau and mosques in his constituency.

Present at the function was Najib's wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Because of the heavy rain at Najib's family house, the hand over of the cattle and camel was shifted to the Sultan Ahmad Shah Convention Centre at the town centre here.

The live animals were brought into the convention centre in a lorry and Najib handed them over to the coordinator of the programme.

The animals, which will be taken to the respective surau and mosques in the Pekan constituency, will be slaughtered after Aidiladha prayers today. – NST, 8 Dec 2008

************************************************

How often do we hear Muslims talk about ‘sacrifice’ and ‘jihad’? These two words are probably the most used words alongside the words ‘akidah’ and ‘tawhid’.

Today I do not want to talk about akidah or tawhid. I already debated this matter with the ustaz from Jakim while in Kamunting and the debate went nowhere. Basically, they look at things from the theoretical point of view but offer no solutions as to how to put theory into practice. When we offer them examples of practical applications gone awry they quickly look at their watch and tell us that time does not permit us to prolong the debate and that we should break for lunch.

No, they do not want to confront reality in spite of them knowing that theory can sometimes be a great departure from practice. Communism, in theory, sounds good. In practice it’s another thing altogether. Capitalism is another ‘theory’ that is proving disastrous. It has now dawned on the world that capitalism may yet trigger the ‘end of the world’ that we have known for 200 years and that we may be seeing, at the point of a gun, the beginning of a new system that will replace capitalism.

Did not Jesus physically evict the moneychangers from the temple? 2,000 years later we might, again, be evicting the moneychangers from the Temple of Capitalism. Money has become worthless, at least the paper money that we know today.

Will we see the exit of ‘paper’ and the re-emergence of barter trade? Seven of my goats for one of your cows! Fifty of my chickens for one of your goats! One cow for a vote for Barisan Nasional -- five cows for an Umno Supreme Council post! One handshake from Nurul Izzah Anwar or a kiss on the cheek from Hannah Yeoh for one vote for Pakatan Rakyat! (I voted for Hannah Yeoh for just a sweet, enchanting smile. But then I come cheap -- ooo….what a smile from a sweet young thing can do for me.)

The list of barter trading possibilities is endless so let your imagination run wild on this one. (I can already anticipate the comments from readers on the barter trading they are going to propose). Yes, soon, paper money will be so worthless no one will want it. It will have to be goods for goods or goods for services, and vice versa. That’s how it used to be until some smart aleck replaced the system with paper money. And that was the beginning of our problems, and which is going to haunt us come 2009.

And Najib Tun Razak wants to become Prime Minister just when this economic earthquake hits us. If I were Najib I would allow Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to stay on till 2010. I would not want to be the Prime Minister who takes the blame for the worst economic period in Malaysian history. And the Finance Minister 2 says that we shall not be having a recession in 2009. Sheesh, where did he learn economics?

Anyway, back to the subject matter. Najib talked about ‘sacrifice’ in his statement on Hari Raya Korban (the Ide’ of Sacrifice). For those who do not know what Hari Raya Korban is all about, it is a festival to celebrate Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, which was originally ordered by God and then, just as he was about to carry out God’s command, was replaced by a sacrifice of an animal, at the command of God.

“What has Abraham got to do with Islam?” some of you may ask. The Quran says that all the followers of Moses and the followers of Jesus who follow the way of Abraham are the true submitters (Muslim). So the way of Abraham is the way (adeen) of Islam. And that is why Kofi Anan, in his speech in the UN, said, “We are all children of Abraham (meaning Jews, Christians and Muslims).”

Does this therefore make Jews, Christians and Muslims brothers/sisters? 99% of those from the Abrahamic faith would answer “No!” They will argue that Jews, Christians and Muslims are enemies of one another. This is not surprising considering that Jews, Christians and Muslims are enemies amongst themselves, what more inter-religion.

Sacrifice and jihad come together. They cannot be separated. They are like Siamese twins where two bodies share one internal organ. And I am not talking about the jihad of fighting the Russian army in Afghanistan. That is the Small Jihad. I am talking about the Greater Jihad. I am talking about the Great War. I am talking about the war you wage against yourself.

Jihad is the war you wage against temptation, lust, jealousy, greed, envy, vanity and egoism -- just to mention but seven of the many ills afflicting humankind. “Get thee behind me Satan,” say the Christians. And Muslims too believe that Satan has made a deal with God to tempt humankind and lead him astray. The Christians and Muslims actually believe the same thing in many things.

When we talk about lust it is not just about sexual lust. Lust for power and wealth are in fact more dangerous than sexual lust. When you lust for power and wealth you will stop at nothing to get them and this is what makes humankind most immoral. When you are envious about the success of others and you too want the power and wealth that others have this too makes you immoral. When you are vain and have a huge ego and think that you too deserve power and wealth the immoral streak in you takes over.

Can you see how temptation, lust, jealousy, greed, envy, vanity and egoism come as a package? Normally, when have one, then you have all seven. And the Greater Jihad is the fight against the ‘seven deadly sins’? These seven are all within us. It is something that lurks in our hearts. And fighting it is harder than fighting the Russian army in Afghanistan.

"The need to sacrifice, which is a blessing from God, is not only a matter of faith but also in our tasks undertaken," said Najib. I agree and I welcome that statement from Najib. But ‘sacrifice’ is more than just about slaughtering a poor cow and eating its meat afterwards. It is bigger than that. Sacrifice is about embarking on the Greater Jihad to shut out the feelings of temptation, lust, jealousy, greed, envy, vanity and egoism. If you can’t do this then you have sacrificed nothing, other than an unfortunate cow.

Is Najib prepared to sacrifice power and position? Is he prepared to give up his post as Deputy Prime Minister and reject the post of Prime Minister that he is expected to take in March 2009? That is the real sacrifice and is what sacrifice is all about. That is the Greater Jihad, the Jihad of sacrifice -- the rejection of temptation, lust, jealousy, greed, envy, vanity and egoism. But all we have seen thus far is the sacrifice of cows. You did not sacrifice anything. It was the cow that sacrificed its life, albeit reluctantly since it had no choice in the matter.

I love talking about Jihad and sacrifice. It is my favourite subject. But many who also talk about it do not understand its concept. It is not about killing cows to eat its meat. It is not about fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. It is about you telling Satan, “Get behind me.” I know there are many Satans already standing behind Najib, waiting for him to take over as Prime Minister. But this is not quite what I mean. These Satans standing behind Najib are waiting to rip off what is left of our country come March 2009 when Najib takes over as Prime Minister.a

Fond memories of elections in Terengganu

Fond memories of elections in Terengganu
12 Dec, 2008

In another incident, a voter could not decide whom to vote for, as both were his friends, so he voted for both candidates. When asked whom he voted for, he sheepishly admitted that it was a tough choice so he chose to vote for both to be fair to both candidates.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

With the Kuala Terengganu by-election looming over the horizon, it is starting to bring back memories of the many elections I was involved in during my 20-year stay in that town from 1974 to 1994. Some of the election incidences were most hilarious indeed and I thought I would share them with you.

One case involved a voter who wanted to retrieve his ballot paper from the ballot box because he had made a mistake and voted for the wrong candidate. There was a heated argument between the voter and the polling station personnel who were adamant that, once you place your ballot paper in the ballot box, you can’t take it out again. Anyway, how would they know which is his ballot paper since they are all mixed in the ballot box and there is no way of knowing which ballot paper belongs to whom.

You see, some voters do not recognise the text (candidate’s name) on the ballot papers and instead rely on the party symbols or logos. Some don’t even recognise the symbols or logos and need to be told where to place the X -- in the top box or the bottom box of the ballot paper.

In this particular election in the 1980s, the incumbents’ names were in the top box and the challengers were in the bottom box. So the campaigners told the voters to vote in the top box. In this particular constituency the incumbent was PAS and invariably the campaigner and voter were both PAS.

So the voter marked his X in the top box for both the parliament and state ballot papers. But what the campaigner forgot to mention is that the incumbent for the parliament seat was PAS while the incumbent for the state seat was Umno. So the PAS candidate was in the top box for the parliament ballot paper while the Umno candidate was in the top box for the state ballot papers.

As advised, the voter marked an X in the top box for both ballot papers, which means he voted PAS for parliament and Umno for state. When the voter came out from the polling station, the campaigner asked who he had voted for and he replied, “Of course for PAS.”

“You marked an X in the top box of the parliament ballot paper and the bottom box for the state ballot paper?”

“No, I marked an X in the top box of both ballot papers.”

“Aiyah, wrong! You should have marked an X in the top box for the parliament ballot paper and in the bottom box for the state ballot paper. You have just voted for Umno for state.”

And that was when the voter charged back into the polling station to demand the return of his ballot paper. I was called in to pacify the voter and I advised him that once the ballot paper is in the ballot box it stays there. He went off grumbling that they should not confuse him that way by putting the PAS candidate at the top on one ballot paper and at the bottom on another.

In another incident, a voter could not decide whom to vote for, as both were his friends, so he voted for both candidates. When asked whom he voted for, he sheepishly admitted that it was a tough choice so he chose to vote for both to be fair to both candidates.

“Aiyah, undi rosak!” shouted the campaigner. The voter then went back to the polling station to demand that he be allowed to vote again because he had made a mistake and had spoilt his vote. I was, again, called in to talk to the voter and to inform him that one can only vote once and even if you have made a mistake you can’t vote again.

He stormed off mumbling under his breath that there must be something wrong with Malaysia’s election system when a voter can’t vote again if he has made a mistake. This was one angry voter who wanted to see some electoral reforms that would include voting twice if you spoilt your vote by mistake.

Of course, there were many incidences of spoilt votes in the East Coast but not all were because of marking an X in the box for both candidates. Elections is when you ‘lepas geram’ or vent anger. But other than voting opposition to demonstrate your anger with the government, East Coast people also leave messages on the ballot paper.

Many ballot papers had graffiti or hate messages scribbled on them and these were all counted as spoilt votes. Imagine a ballot paper marked X for the PAS candidate with the message “Umno Babi” or “Pergi mampus Umno” written across the Umno candidate’s box. And these were the tamer messages. Some had “berayuk mak mu” written over the Umno candidate’s box. (I am not going to translate that one).

In one election, the imam of our local mosque, Pak Abas, came hurriedly looking for me to report a fight about to break out between a group of voters and a policeman guarding the polling station. We rushed over there and saw a group of angry villagers surrounding the pale and terrified policeman.

“Sabor, sabor (patience),” I told the villagers. “Gapo ni (what’s the problem)?”

The villagers explained that the policeman told them they must first become members of Barisan Nasional if they wanted to vote and this angered the villagers who wanted to ‘teach the policeman a lesson’ (nak ajor dia ni).

I asked the policeman why he did that but he denied doing so. He explained that all he did was ask them to queue up and stop shoving if they wanted to vote.

“Saya suruh dia orang masuk barisan kalau nak undi,” he explained in Bahasa Malaysia.

“No wonder,” I told him. “Next time, don’t say ‘masuk barisan’. They thought you meant join Barisan (Nasional). Instead, say ‘beratur’ (line up or queue up).”

I suppose the correct language for the military and police when they ask you to ‘fall in’ is ‘masuk barisan’ and when they want you to straighten the line it is ‘luruskan barisan’. But ‘masuk barisan’ can also mean ‘join Barisan Nasional’, as the very terrified policeman who was not local enough to understand Terengganu lingo discovered.

In 1990, PAS and Semangat 46 joined forces to take on Umno (Kelantan fell to PAS-Semangat 46 that year while Terengganu remained under Barisan Nasional). That night, as the votes were being counted, I sauntered over to the Pantai Primula Hotel in Kuala Terengganu where some of the top police officers from KL plus the local CPO and OCPD were congregating in the coffee house. The hotel manager was also amongst them.

“How are the results coming along?” the manager asked me.

“Habis!” I told him. “PAS has taken over this state.”

“Oh shit,” he responded. “How now?”

“The first thing they will do tomorrow morning is they will ban liquor. You will have to empty all your bottles and flush your liquor down the toilet. What else?”

“Aiyoh! How to do that? We got so many bottles in stock.”

I winked at the very amused police officers -- they knew I was pulling the manager’s leg. “What to do ah?” I asked the CPO who was trying very hard to hold back his laughter.

With a straight face he said, “The law is the law. If PAS bans liquor tomorrow morning then I will have to send my men here to make sure the law is followed. So better get rid of the entire lot tonight before PAS takes over in the next few hours. Let us assist you.”

The manager immediately asked his staff to bring out all the liquor and place it on the table. You should have seen the party we had that night in the Pantai Primula coffee house. No one went home sober the wee hours of the following morning. Of course, Umno retained the state and PAS-Semangat 46 never did take Terengganu in 1990. But Pantai Primula was ‘relieved’ of many crates of liquor and we had one very happy police force on our hands -- though as drunk as sailors who had never seen land in months.

Talking about PAS-Semangat 46 and the 1990 election, Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen (Ku Din), the current Chairman of the Umno Disciplinary Committee, was the Umno candidate for Kota Bharu in that election. He went around town to hand over RM50 notes to all the voters and they took the money but handed him back RM4.00.

Ku Din was puzzled as to why they took the RM50 but handed him back RM4.00 until one voter said, “Lima puloh tak seh. Amboh nak pat puloh neh.” (I don’t want 50. I want 46.)

Invariably, Semangat 46 won the Kota Bharu seat. Now, of course, Ku Din is chairing the Umno committee that is supposed to catch all those who indulge in ‘money politics’.

Close battle looms in Terengganu by-election

Close battle looms in Terengganu by-election
12 Dec, 2008

It appears that the selection of candidates may end up widening existing cracks in both parties. It is not going to be easy for Umno and Pas to decide. While supporters' expectations need to be satisfied, the expectations of voters are equally important.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Zubaidah Abu Bakar, New Straits Times

The Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat has never been a sure bet for any party, as both Pas and Umno know only too well.

FIELDING winnable candidates is usually the top priority for political parties in any electoral battle.

This should also be the case with the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election, scheduled for Jan 17. A total of 80,229 registered voters, comprising 79,194 ordinary voters and 1,035 postal voters, are expected to choose a new parliamentary representative following the death of deputy education minister Datuk Razali Ismail on Nov 28.

Before they go to the ballot box, many would have made up their minds on who they think will best take care of their well-being. Will the candidate fight for their rights at the state and federal levels?

Will he have the patience to listen to their grouses? Is he down-to-earth and approachable? Is he stingy with money?

These are among the common considerations before a voter makes that all-important cross on a ballot paper. It is, therefore, vital that a party selects a candidate who meets most, if not all, of the voters' principal criteria.

But voters also include party members, who must be happy with the candidate their party selects. It is well known that candidates often lose their seats not because the party is weak but because they are sabotaged by dissatisfied party members.

This by-election will be no exception. "Peteh keting", the Terengganu version of Kelantan's infamous "chah keting" will be in play, especially if Umno and Pas fail to nominate a good candidate who is well liked by the locals.

There is already bickering over the popular belief that Umno is keen to field senator Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, the Kuala Terengganu Umno chief, as its candidate.

There are fears that the deputy home minister's association with one of the unpopular projects in Terengganu -- the Monsoon Cup, in which his elder brother, former state executive councillor Datuk Wan Hisham, was directly involved -- will be a liability to Umno.

Wan Hisham was ousted as Ladang assemblyman last March by Pas' Datuk Tengku Hassan Tengku Omar, who won the state seat by 31 votes.

Wan Ahmad Farid's close links with outgoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's family has always been an issue with locals.

Umno also has to appease supporters of former menteri besar Datuk Idris Jusoh, who still wields clout in Terengganu Umno and is itching to get back at present Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said for their tussle for the post following the March 8 general election.

Internal bickering continues in Terengganu Umno over several issues, including the menteri besar's move to forbid his state exco members contesting in Umno divisional elections. Umno is in a dilemma, as selecting either a pro-Ahmad or a pro-Idris candidate could weaken the party's local election machinery.

Pas launched its by-election machinery yesterday but its leaders, too, continue to differ on who should be the party's candidate. While many Pakatan Rakyat leaders are keen to get the "more liberal" Mohamad Sabu to contest, conservative Terengganu Pas leaders are not keen on the "outsider".

They argue that Mohamad failed in the last general election and, therefore, should not be given a second chance. Moreover, the party's general election post-mortem found that Mohamad, who is a Pas vice-president, was rejected because he was not a local.

And this despite him being a formidable opponent by any measure: a seasoned politician, powerful orator and a well-known opposition figure.

Pas supporters in Terengganu are less accommodating to outsiders than their counterparts in Kelantan, who have few qualms supporting a parachute candidate, especially if he's a national leader.

Pas deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, then party secretary-general, was imported from Yan, Kedah to contest in Besut in 2004, where he only managed 17,587 votes to Datuk Abdullah Mohd Zin's 26,087. Nasharuddin moved again to contest in Bachok last March, where he ousted then deputy finance minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin by a 2,896-vote majority.

Terengganu Pas, led by Datuk Mustaffa Ali, badly wants to wrest the Kuala Terengganu seat that Mohamad Sabu lost by a slim majority. Mustaffa, his deputy Datuk Wan Abdul Muttalib Embong, and Batu Burok assemblyman Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi have all been mentioned as possible candidates.

Wan Muttalib, the former Batu Burok assemblyman, had been considered as a possible candidate for the KT seat in the general election, but was replaced with Mohamad.

Terengganu Pas youth has also proposed a political unknown and reserve candidate for the 2013 general election -- Dr Mohd Khazani Abdullah, 40; a businessman, former Universiti Putra Malaysia lecturer and adjunct professor at a private university.

It appears that the selection of candidates may end up widening existing cracks in both parties. It is not going to be easy for Umno and Pas to decide. While supporters' expectations need to be satisfied, the expectations of voters are equally important. Moreover, the late Razali had set a very high bar: he was a very popular MP, serving his constituents regardless of political affiliation.

Kuala Terengganu is one of the classic swing seats in Malaysia; not a safe seat for either BN or the opposition. The parliamentary seat, always a traditional battleground of Umno and Pas, went from being a BN seat in 1986, winning with majority 3,324 votes, to a Semangat 46 seat in 1990 (majority 1,880).

It then reverted to BN in 1995 (majority 4,852) before going to Pas in 1999 (majority 14,488) and then back to the BN again in 2004 (majority 1,933).

BN retained the seat in the 2008 elections (majority 628).

Both Umno and Pas, therefore, have to treat this seat with caution. Perhaps letting voters know their candidate in advance would be an advantage, as the electorate -- 88 per cent Malay and about 11 per cent Chinese -- would have time to consider which prospective MP they think would be better.

Don’t blame others for mishaps, Pak Lah tells Selangor govt

Don’t blame others for mishaps, Pak Lah tells Selangor govt
12 Dec, 2008

(The Star) JAKARTA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has hit out at the Selangor Government for apparently trying to wash its hands of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide tragedy.

The Prime Minister said the Pakatan Rakyat government should accept responsibility and correct any mistakes or weaknesses which have occurred.

“This is not the way to govern – taking credit only for the good things and blaming others for the mishaps.

Danger sign: A tree at the edge of the landslide at Jalan Wangsa 9 in Bukit Antarabangsa was uprooted Thursday, signalling that the soil is still unstable. The flattened bungalows are at the base of the hill while the Impiana Selatan condos can be seen at the bottom right-hand corner. — ABDUL RAHMAN SENIN / The Star

“As the new state administration, they should improve on all aspects and take things in their stride,” he told the Malaysian media here when commenting on claims by Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim that a total of 99 risky hillside projects were approved by the previous government.

Abdullah said there was no need for him to teach the present administration how to do their work as they should be fully aware of what was good for the people.

On the Kuala Terengganu by-election, Abdullah said Umno leaders should not be campaigning for themselves but use the time to help the Barisan Nasional candidate.

“We must bear in mind that if our candidate loses, it will affect our party’s image.

“I hope those vying for posts (in the Umno polls) will not use the by-election for personal gains,” he said.

In Malaysia - the PM is King, lives in a palace!

In Malaysia - the PM is King, lives in a palace!
11 Dec, 2008

Hey Malaysians, this is where all your heart/hard earned tax money go to!!! What do they mean by “the government pays” ? Where do they get the money from???

(from Malaysiakini)

In a written parliamentary reply to DAP MP Liew Chin Tong, Abdullah had revealed that the government forks out RM6 million a year for rental and maintenance works for his official residence, Seri Perdana.

According to the reply, RM4,149,000 is paid as rental to Putrajaya Holdings - the master developer of the federal administrative capital - while the remaining RM1,896,616 is for maintenance works.

The government also pays RM3.4 million (RM2,273,888 for rental and RM1,129,992 for maintenance) for Seri Setia, the deputy premier’s official residence.

In total, this works out to about RM26,000 per day for both residences.

Total wastage! Total corruption! and total disrespect for the rakyat’s hard earned money!

http://sloone.wordpress.com/

Battle of the Eastern Front

Battle of the Eastern Front
10 Dec, 2008

Until we know who the candidates are there is very little we can do as far as election strategy goes. Nevertheless, the Chinese are going to be the ‘kingmaker’ and, with a 50:50 tie, their 11% is going to be very significant indeed.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The million ringgit question during the Permatang Pauh by-election was whether the 8 March 2008 ‘magic’ is still there? Was March 8 a one-off, flash-in-the-pan or was the Tsunami still strong?

Some in Umno forecasted that Arif Shah would win by at least 5,000 votes. Others in Umno, not so optimistic, forecasted that Anwar would win, but by less than 10,000 votes. Anwar won by more than 15,000 votes, exceeding even what Dr Wan Azizah won in the general election just over five months earlier.

Actually, Anwar won by more than 18,000 votes if you take into account the 1,000 ‘missing’ names (those who voted on March 8 but had their names deleted and could not vote on 26 August), the 1,000 voters bussed in on 25 buses, the 600 voters who discovered that someone had voted in their place using their identity cards, and the 400 postal votes. This came to about 3,000 extra votes for Umno.

Anyway, Anwar won two out of three votes or 66.6% in spite of the cheating. So March 8 was no fluke-shot or flash-in-the-pan. The voters very much wanted change and they demonstrated this in Permatang Pauh during the by-election.

That same question is now being raised for the 17 January 2009 Kuala Terengganu by-election. One difference though. Permatang Pauh was Anwar’s seat. No one thought he would not win it. The only question was by how many votes. Kuala Terengganu, however, is Umno’s seat. This means the opposition is not defending its seat like in Permatang Pauh but is trying to grab an Umno seat.

But Kuala Terengganu is not really an Umno seat as such. The Parliament seat of Kuala Terengganu comprises of four state seats -- Batu Burok, Wakaf Mempelam, Ladang and Bandar. And the seat has ding-donged between Umno and the opposition from time to time. It is like one election it goes to Umno and the next it goes to the opposition. So, since Umno held it the last time, it might just swing to the opposition this time around.

Batu Burok is split between government and opposition. Most government officers live in Batu Burok. So, invariably, they would normally vote government. But Batu Burok also comprises of Kuala Ibai, which is a PAS stronghold and where few Umno people dare stray into lest they get pelted with stones. Yes, the Kuala Ibai fishermen and farmers are most passionate about their support for PAS and woe to any Umno man or woman who attempts to campaign in that area.

This means, if the government officers swing to the opposition, like they did in 1999, then PAS would win Batu Burok. I will not know the current sentiment of the government officer residents of Batu Burok until I go down to the ground next Month -- and I plan to spend about two weeks in Kuala Terengganu from the 5th to 18th January to not only assess the situation but to help campaign for PAS as well.

Wakaf Mempelam is Mustapha Ali’s stronghold. So we can assume that PAS will secure this area unless Mustapha’s popularity has declined drastically since I was last in Terengganu. Mustapha, in case you did not know, is the PAS ‘mafia boss’ of Terengganu and once my neighbour when I lived there for about 20 years.

Ladang is unique. The Ladang folks have always been anti-establishment except for the period when the late Bakar Daud was its State Assemblymen. Bakar Daud was the football association President and Captain of the Terengganu football team. He was also very ‘generous’ every election, plus in between elections, and he ‘took care’ of the Ladang folks very well. Money, of course, talks, while bullshit walks. And throw in the Terengganu folks’ passion for football and Bakar Daud had it made.

When Onn Jaafar of Johor resigned from Umno to form Parti Negara, he chose Ladang as his seat and won. For a Johorean to win in Terengganu -- and opposition on top of that -- is quite a feat. But, as I said, Ladang is unique and no one can predict how the Ladang folks will vote come 17 January 2009. They might yet surprise everyone.

Bandar comprises of Losong and Kampong Cina. Bandar is the only MCA (state) seat in Terengganu. The rest -- 31 state and 8 parliament seats -- are all Umno. However, in the 1990 general election, the Chinese in Kampong Cina voted opposition while the Malays in Losong voted MCA. MCA, however, lost because, while the Chinese were solid in their support for the opposition, the Malays in Losong were split 50:50.

In the recent general election, the votes for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency were split almost 50:50. The calun bebas got about 600 votes, which is about the number of votes that PAS lost. If there were no calun bebas what would have been the outcome? Would Umno still have won or would that seat now be a PAS seat? If PAS had won then this would mean we would not be seeing a by-election come 17 January 2009.

Yes, Kuala Terengganu is not Kuala Terengganu. Kuala Terengganu is Batu Burok, Wakaf Mempelam, Ladang and Bandar. And Batu Burok is government officers, fishermen and farmers while Bandar is strong Chinese. And the Chinese, who form about 11% of the 80,000 or so voters, are Hokkien and Hainanese. This makes Kuala Terengganu most interesting and extremely unpredictable.

Much will depend on the candidate chosen by PAS and Umno. For PAS, there are four possibilities. Mustapha Ali, Wan Abdul Muttalib Embong, Mohamad Sabu (Mat Sabu) and Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi. All four have their strengths and weaknesses.

Mustapha Ali is the ‘mafia boss’. But he does not get along well with DAP and PKR. So there is a danger that the other Pakatan Rakyat members may not be campaigning too enthusiastically.

Wan Muttalib is a lawyer and very wealthy. But he is not popular with some of the PAS grass-root leaders because of his ‘loose cannon’ tendencies. Because of his success and wealth, Wan Muttalib can sometimes be quite arrogant and this pisses off quite a few people.

Mat Sabu is very popular. Even the DAP and PKR people like him. But he is an ‘outsider’ and this poses a problem. Terengganu folks are very regionalistic. Even if someone from Besut, in North Terengganu, contests in Kemaman, in South Terengganu, there would be acceptance problems. So Mat Sabu may face a problem if the Terengganu folks prefer a ‘local’ rather than an ‘orang luar’.

Syed Azman, I suppose, has no baggage. But, being a professional, he has problems ‘coming down’ to the level of the villagers, fishermen and farmers. You need to be ‘one of them’ to win them over. I have personally seen Syed Azman walk pass without shaking hands with those standing around waiting to greet their leaders. And this is a cardinal sin in Malay politics, especially when it comes to rural Malays.

Umno may probably choose Wan Farid Wan Salleh or Zubir Embong. Wan Farid is Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Political Secretary but his hands are tainted with the shooting of the two Bersih demonstrators in Batu Burok awhile back. He is also implicated in the mismanagement and abuse of the RM1 billion a year Wang Ehsan or oil royalty.

Wan Farid’s brother, Wan Hisham, together with Patrick Lim, is the man behind the RM300 million a year Terengganu Monsoon Cup. Whether Terengganu folks can forgive Wan Farid for the shooting during the Bersih rally, plus for the abuse of billions of ringgit of oil royalty, is left to be seen -- but it would be most interesting if Umno fields him because there would be a lot of issues to use against him.

Zubir Embong is yesterday’s news and if Umno fields him then PAS need not work too hard because many in Umno itself will see to it that he loses. He is from the Bakar Daud-Wan Mokhtar era and no longer acceptable. Umno would be better off choosing a fresh candidate rather than Zubir if Wan Farid is not going to be it.

So that’s how it stands thus far. Until we know who the candidates are there is very little we can do as far as election strategy goes. Nevertheless, the Chinese are going to be the ‘kingmaker’ and, with a 50:50 tie, their 11% is going to be very significant indeed.

Do I dare predict the outcome of the Kuala Terengganu by-election? Not at this stage. The by-election can go either way. And remember, it is not about Kuala Terengganu but about Wakaf Mempelam, Kampong Cina, Ladang, the government officers, the farmers and the fishermen. This is probably the most ‘mixed’ seat in the whole state of Terengganu.