Lets’ follow Singapore, be ‘kiasu’!?

THIS IS Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Datuk Razali Ibrahim ‘RECIPE’ for nationalism!

“Singapore is the best example,” Razali who is also Umno Youth deputy chief said citing the “kiasu” (afraid of losing) attitude among Singaporeans.

He said “kiasu” was not something negative although some Malaysians found it odd and called Singaporeans “kiasu”.

“Kiasu is the nationalism spirit for Singapore. It means that weaknesses will be corrected without smearing the country’s good name. Kiasu is the key or secret to Singapore’s success.”

Great, isn’t it, easy to. So lets all be kiasu…!@#$%^&*

Lets’ hear a multiperspective review on Sibu, not propaganda

I attended a forum on SIBU last week at the PENANG Chinese Town Hall, and as expected, it wasn’t really an analysis of the Sibu by-election. It was a propaganda talk by the DAP, but since they organised the forum, can anyone fault them for it?

Which is why I am looking forward to another review of Sibu, this time, it promised to be a multi-perspective review. More details below:

THE OBJECTIVES: to learn positive lessons for democracy from the Sibu by-elections from the experiences of those who have been there or are doing work related to Sibu by-election. Perspectives included are: political party, election observers, media and legal.

Organisers: Penang Chinese Journaist Association, Malaysian Voters Union(MALVU),
Date: May 30th (Sunday), Time: 7.30pm
Venue: 62 Weld Quay (2nd floor) (near Penang Ferry terminal, opposite Lee Jetty.)

Speakers:
1. Liew Chin Tong (DAP)
2. Kapten (bersara) Zambri, Election Director for PAS in Sibu(PAS)
3. Ong Boon Keong(Sibu Election Watchers(SEW) election observer)
4. Media rep : Joseph Sipalan (Malaysiakini) – my colleagues!!!
5. Cheah Kah Seng (Electoral roll analyst for Malaysian Voters Union -MALVU)

Enq. 013-5900339(Ong BK), Yi Chan (019-4150331); All welcome! Please forward to all your friends!

Happy Wesak & CM says NO! to sports betting…

BY LIM GUAN ENG.
Note: Penang Muslim Councillors want CM to go a step further and ban gambling and alcohol premises to curb social ills.

In the spirit of peace and tranquility, I wish a very happy Wesak day to all Buddhists in Penang and Malaysia. On this auspices day, we are reminded of the teachings of Lord Buddha who among other things has preached enlightenment and tolerance.

The Penang Government in conjunction with Wesak Day celebrations would like to express our intent to promote a healthier and more responsible lifestyle for Penang families. We are concerned at the excessively high number of draws -12 draws or special draws conducted weekly by the three gaming companies licensed by the BN government, which should be reduced.

The Penang state government is not opposed to betting or gaming outlets in Penang. However we are concerned at the excessive number of draws and special draws being conducted by these licensed operators have placed a very heavy burden on many families. Many of the breadwinners feel obliged to ‘chase’ after each draw with all three operators resulting in substantial loss of income to the family and their children.

Putrajaya fantasies…

 This blog post is based on DAP’s Forum Perdana at the Penang Chinese Town Hall last night. Photo credits to my lovely friend Jennifer Mourin:

Pakatan Rakyat has yet to overcome its shocking victory at the recent Sibu by-election, and now harbours fantasies of taking one giant leap to Putrajaya, the country’s administrative capital. They are quite convinced that after Sibu, they can, hand in hand, conquer Premier Najib Razak’s BN government.Can they do it?

If PR can make inroads into Sabah and Sarawak, party leaders warn, the Opposition coalition may very well be on their way to seize the federal government in the coming 13^th general elections, rumoured to be around the first quarter of next year.

Oh, so very soon! Have you people registered as voters?

In a forum organised by DAP in Penang last night, every PR leader that spoke on stage, boasted about how courageous Sibu voters were, who did not cave in despite offers of monetary pledges worth millions from the Federal government.

They poured scorn over Najib’s antics in Sibu, including his lightning visit to the Tua Pek Kong temple and his ‘infamous vote buying’ speech at Rejang Park, which they claimed, actually contributed to the downfall of the BN and Supp, its coalition member in Sarawak, in the “buy election”.

“Even in the face of extortion, offer of millions of ringgit in the form of development and allocation for schools, churches and organizations, none of these could sway the hearts of the voters,” said State chairperson Chow Kon Yeow.

Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng was even more daring and dubbed the Sibu win as a ‘mid term review’ for the DAP and PR.

 “We passed with flying colors” she thundered, while the 1,000 strong crowd who filled the  Town Hall where the forum took place, clapped joyously.

She recounted her ‘tough’ journey into the interiors of Sibu to reach out to voters in long-houses and claimed that the party’s victory was indeed a ‘miraculous’ outcome which ended Umno’s notion of East Malaysia being its ‘fixed deposit’.  

Which Constitution are we talking about now?

In conjunction with HARI GAWAI, I thought I support a SABAHAN spread his message around. Here’s something from Ronnie Charles:

Greetings my esteemed friends,

Sabahans are patriotic to the nation and will fight to their last drop of blood to defend the nation. And they are always reminded to adhere to and believe in the Constitution. My question is, which constitution are we talking about NOW?

Tun Fuad Stephens had called for the review of the provisions in the constitution of the country because it did not seem to reflect what was intended by the original Malaysian agreement. Look what happened to him and his cabinet – “dead”. Was it political assassination? The people of Sabah have been oppressed to the extend that they have to BEG for development funds and any meaningful funds comes only once every 5 years during the elections. Sabahans must not and should not be beggars in their own land, They MUST RISE and demand back what rightfully belongs to them.

What’s up, Jeff Ooi?

WHAT the hell happenned to blogger hero Jeff Oooi?

He was pretty mad with the Penang Electromagnetic Fielf Protection Coalition yesterday, threatening to use all Federal Laws, including the Sedition Act against them for questioning the state government about safety limits used to develop a wireless Penang.

When I spoke to him over the phone, he repeated all his threats, plus say he will raise this issue in Parliament on June 16. Wow, the PEMF group must be so thrill to be given (at last) NATIONAL attention!

Being mad is ok. But when that madness includes threatening others with sedition law, you wonder…huh? HUH???

No, no…this has NOTHING to do with THE STAR or UTUSAN spinning the news.

Is this because this group is pro-Gerakan? Jeff accused the advisor of the group of being a Gerakan person. But the colaition members say Jeff is acting like a Barisan man.

Why? because he so easily invokes all these so-called ‘federal laws’

Do you think Jeff’s statement is advantageous to Lim Guan Eng’s government? Now LGE has a lot of explaining to do.

Tsk. Tsk. READ: “Jeff Ooi lambasted over sedition threats”.

Kena “Buang” & Kena “Batang”…

I attended a forum on health in Penang when a veteran politician told me he was reading my blog and had one advice for me: that I should not be ‘vulgar’. I was like…duh…! Can I help it when policitians themselves lead the way?

Image by Wits, thank you! Read why he is not fit to be MP. He has always been vulgar. Here’s one good example.

Sarawak – Punishment for DAP

So soon. Congratulations (to DAP) not over yet, not finished yet, and the punishment has begun (for trouncing BN, albeit by a small majority in Sibu).

But I am sure, whatever punishment is worth the pain.

From Malaysiakini:

“The duo are Chong Chieng Jen (DAP-Kota Sentosa) and Dominique Ng (PKR-Padungan). …Chong was hauled up to the pivileges committee after calling rival party Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp) “liars” …Ng was hauled up to the same committee last year for referring to the state assembly as a “kangaroo court”.  (Read more here)

If this were a federal crime, all Malaysia would be guilty.

Congrats, DAP, now lets hope over to Kedah…

I must say I am quite excited to see the DAP win in Sibu. Can we have more by-elections, please. But I hate the way this is turning into a racial issue when it is not.

It’s too obvious by now that the minorities in this country are simply fighting againt ‘discriminatory policies’ of the MAJORITY. That they are Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Dayak, Kadazans, etc…are a matter of pigmentation.

I am sure Pakatan must be secretly thanking Muhyiddin’s “I am Malay first” declaration, Mahathir’s Perkasa and the overall Allah issue for making things easier for them in Sibu.

From ‘tak ada modal’ to campaign, they have suddenly loads of issues to blast about. Thanks to Azhar Ibrahim (Penang Opposition leader’s) tirade on May 13, army takeover and possible attack by the underground Malay gangster Tiga Line group, whoever these poor souls are. 

Wee Choo Keong’s surprise (not a surprise actually) resignation from PKR is NOthing compared to all these!

Goung back to Sibu, the way money is being poured into by-elections is simply horrifying. The right thing for the EC to do is to ban these acts of daylight bribery. But who is the EC? perhaps, we need an answer to that first.

Anyway, money did not work in Sibu and a few other constituencies which had a by-election in the past months. This is a good trend for the coming days.

I am now itching for a Kedah state election. Anyone game for it?