Menanti di Penanti – Mansor wins!

After a long wait, Dr Mansor Othman, an Anwar Ibrahim loyalist, wins Penanti, and is immediately transported into a high level political appointment : the post of Penang Deputy Ministers’ Post.

Does Mansor know what it takes to be a DCM? Can he work with DAP, especially chief minister Lim Guan Eng? Is his win still considered victory, when UMNO was out of the race? Surely, it cannot be so satisfying a win when your biggest challenger is nowhere in sight!

Mansor’s ability as DCM remains to  be seen. It is hope the DCM post, reserved for PKR, can at least bring some stability to the party. But I wonder if Mansor can do it. He didn’t do so well with his PKR brood in Penang. And this opinion dates back to 2003.

Former Keadilan Wanita chief, turned enemy, Aminah Abdullah, lost miserably with 390 votes. This is despite all the ‘evidence’, expose and media attention and support for Aminah. What does it tell you?

This is also despite the report that thousands of UMNO members in Penanti did not vote. But were they really UMNO members to start with? Most likely, things are not what they seem. Things are not what we were often told to believe.

SOS! Austism center needs your help!

I received an email from blogger ShiokGuy on the subject below.  I am really sorry about the Center and hope things will be better soon. I pray that many of you who read this blog are angels and could give Mr. Yong a helping hand:

I am a father of 2 autistic boys age 7 and 9, they are Yong Wei Xiang and Yong Wei Jie. I am a small freelance in IT and software design, business was good before but last 2-3 years have been bad.

I send my sons to the center for last 3 months because it is free and the teacher is very experience in handling autism related issue.  But that are closing down due to financial difficulties. I belief I will be able to turn it around but I need help for the first year. I am looking for angel who can donate to keep the center open for another year, thereafter I should be able to make it profitable.

I told you so. It’s really a nightmare.

I said it earlier here. And even before this, I said something about “the biggest nightmare“.

“It may be unfair to compare a man who has been in power for 22 years against one who has only been at the reins for 59 days. But, so far, it is clear that Najib’s administration has not heralded the return of Mahathirism. So far, it is worse”.  Source: MalaysianInsider.

To me, Mahathir Mohammad had finally got what he wanted – a successor who would do whatever he wanted, and more. So much more that he became and can become even worse.

I have only two words.  “Padan Muka” – serve you right. Do we deserve the PM we get?

In loving memory of a brave & courageous soldier.

My father’s youngest brother, the late Lt. Col. Tony Loone, was a brave soldier until the day he died of cancer, 3 years ago, on 30 May 2006, when he was 71.

It was only 3 years, after my own dad died at the age of 77.

His story has been documented here by the 7rengers blog, which carries many interesting, courageous stories and bits of history about the Seventh Rangers struggles and jungle war fare with communists, they term ‘enemy’.

Major (Rtd) D Swami, owner of that blogspot, contacted me about my Uncle, when he died, so I referred him to my cousin Mark. I was already leaving for Bangkok at that point in time.

As a child, I remember my Uncle mostly in soldier’s outfit. He was a big man but gentle in spirit. He was rather handsome, too, a mixed blood: Chinese father and Sri Lanka mother. He was a jolly good man with his family and friends.

He leaves behind my aunty Josephine, my cousins Elaine, Mark and Charles, whom I miss dearly as we did spent some lovely times when we were kids.

After he retired, my Uncle and his family left for New Zealand, where his children completed their studies. Then he returned to Malaysia, and joined Parti Keadilan, as it was called then, in the Gombak branch.

When I was working in KL and Malaysiakini, we did chat greatly about politics. My Uncle knew many juicy stories from the past.

I do not know if my uncle’s family know this story, but he did tell me once long ago (my dad was alive then), that he had been offered the General’s post during his long career as a soldier, with one condition: that he converts to Islam.

Investigate these judges !

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By: P Ramakrishnan
President
Aliran
28 May 2009

Justice is becoming a rare commodity in our courts when judges of questionable ability Parties sit in judgment. This situation raises serious concerns regarding the appointment of judges and their elevation to the bench.

In the recent cases involving the Perak crisis we wonder whether the Federal Court judges and the Court of Appeal judges who heard these cases were right in ignoring Article 72(1) of the Federal Constitution. We are appalled with their judgment which went against the grain of justice.

On what basis did the Federal Court judges rule that the Speaker of the Perak State Assembly had no power to suspend certain BN Assemblymen? In any case, it was the Rights and Privileges Committee that had suspended them – not Sivakumar. That fact fell on deaf years.

But the moot point is can these judges ignore and discard the provisions of the Federal Court in deciding their cases? Aren’t decisions based on sound reasoning rooted in precedents and written law?

In a well-argued article the former Court of Appeal judge N H Chan has clearly established that the Judges’ Code of Ethics had been breached by these judges who had not paid any attention to the Federal Constitution.

N H Chan has pointed out that Article 72(1) specifically states, “ The validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court.” How come this provision did not mean anything to them?

Why no respect for peace treaties?

Source Malaysiakini:

Najib Razak forgets that his mentor Mahathir Mohammad had signed a peace treaty with the Communist Party of Malaya.

So, not allowing Chin Peng to return home is indeed a “travesty of justice” as lawyer Darshan Singh says. 

Hostilities are supposed to have ended in 1989 after the peace treaty. It seems Najib does not understand what this means.

Would any country believe us anymore when we sign any treaties?

They better be cautious because we have a history of going back on our words.

It is not as if Chin Peng is coming back to set up a political party based on communist ideology.

The peace treaty did say they can come back to setup/join any legal political party.

The old guy wants to see his mother’s grave in Setiawan. His two kids can see him in Thailand or wherever. But nothing beats coming home.

This country does not belong to Najib or UMNO, not even MCA! Please dont act as if it’s your grandfather’s land!

Najib’s dictatorship under 100 days

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Najib’s not even 100 days in administration yet, and there had been 160 arrests of civilians, including people’s representatives and lawyers.

He seems to have no control over his home minister (oh ya, they’re cousins!) and his MIS-information minister who goes about town ordering the media to shut up on many  socio-political issues, while suggesting ISA for bloggers.

Even T-shirts, birthday cakes, and balloons are not spared the wrath of the Najib administration.

A nightmare! Disaster in the making!

While he has released 26 detainees from Kamunting for political reasons, he has sent Mas Selamat to the camp without trial. Singapore will be pleased.

Nightmare? Who’s next?

Rais shames Najib just as he prepares to visit China

Please-lah. What is wrong with RAIS YATIM? Was this fler a former Foreign Minister? No wonder we had such a bad reputation overseas, even in Indonesia!

What a good bi-lateral suggestion that he just gave PM Najib Razak on China-Malaysia relations recently.

Is he really qualified to be the Information Minister? Dis-information and Mis-information, plus Ill-information maybe !

“Asked whether the government would take action such as those provided under the Internal Security Act (ISA) against those who tried to give a positive picture of the communists, Rais said he would bring the matter up at the Cabinet meeting later”. (BERNAMA)

Doesn’t he know that his boss Najib Tun Razak is visiting China, the biggest Communist and still prevailing, not to mention successful, country in the world, on June 2? Is Rais making fun of his boss? Does Rais want his boss to end up in ISA as well? Rais, Rais…are you so eager to please your boss that you shoot your own foot?

Shitty Police arrested 7 YBs in Perak

FROM SUARAM:

Fourteen people, including eight Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives, were arrested by the Ipoh police at about 11.45am for alleged illegal assembly. The arrest of these 14 followed an earlier arrest of five people this morning while they were making arrangements for the launch of three-day hunger strike.

Those arrested were:

1. YB V Sivakumar,

2. MP M Kulasegaran (DAP’s Ipoh Barat)

3. Choo Ooi Beng

4. YB Leong mee Meng

5. YB Lim Pek Har

6. Vikneswary

7. YB Chang Lih Kang

8. YB keshwinder

9. YB Chan Ming Kai

10. Chai Sing Fatt

11. Vasu

12. YB Thomas Su

13. Chan Gee Keong

14. Faisal Bin Umar Ridzuan

Background

The group had earlier taken part in the launch of Pakatan’s hunger strike which was officiated by ousted menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin. They were arrested while in a procession from the DAP headquarters in Ipoh to the High Court to file a suit against the state Barisan Nasional.

Urgent action needed:

Please write protest letters to the government and the police to express your strongest condemnation of the arrests and the ongoing denial of rights of expression. Please also demand the Malaysian government for the immediate and unconditional release the fourteen activists.

Oh, PKR ! Is Aminah really qualified for Penang’s DCM post?

Is Aminah Abdullah (photo, left, from malaysiakini), the independent candidate in Penanti, qualified to be Penang’s Deputy Chief Minister? Hello, Lim Guan Eng, what do you say to this?

IF PKR HAD REALLY BRIBED AMINAH, with Penang’s DCM post (if she wins), or Penang Municipal Council (if she pulls out), they must be fools. Fools of the highest order.

I mean, who is Aminah, in the scheme of things? She is a nobody in Penang, much more Penanti. PKR didn’t have to go this far to win this constituency.

Even if Aminah was backed by UMNO, I thought Anwar Ibrahim was really confident of this seat? So close to his home? Perhaps things are not what they seem. Hmm?

I told a friend recently that if Aminah had the proof, it would be really good for her to expose it, so that it does not repeat.

My friend, who also knows Aminah well, pondered if she had crossed over to the ‘dark side’. We wondered about her motive in coming out so strongly against PKR, when she was its ardent follower years back.

My friend wondered if this is the right thing to do, does it really benefit the nation, to throw a spanner in the works, when most of us are hoping for a change of government. In other words, she was worried about the unity of people against Barisan Nasional/ UMNO.

She also questioned Aminah’s timing. “If she had wanted to expose the party, why do it only now?”