Media Landscape After Mac 8 Election

Sometimes, there is a thinking whether we are talking too much politics

 

The Blogsites, there is an increasing popularity of blogsites, many juicy stuff in these blogsites, information is too juicy to print by mainstream media, politicians getting into the act of blogging, some have even gone U-tubing;

In the Current Scenario, it is an Exciting times for reporters and even bloggers, trying times for editors and publisher, more political-driven news, more people want to talk about the past & the future;

There is a need to Write with Responsibility. It is a must in a multi-racial country, must be conscious of impact if news stories are slanted for the benefit of only certain communities, recent experience have shown that heavily- slanted writing can get people in trouble, it is nice to read about who is in trouble but when one gets in trouble, it is certainly not nice to be in his or her shoes.

 Looking at the Future Ahead, news organisation need to be more multi-racial, eliminate stereotyped writing about a particular community, need to push for the emergence of Bangsa Malaysia of united and tolerant Malaysians.

 

Statelessness is the Obstacle to Politics & Economy

A “Stateless person” means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law. 

Brief Background on Indian Communities whose births have not been Registered, as at March 2005 there are  20,000 Indian women without IC nor marriage certificates.

What are the Political & Economic Implication?  These are wasted human capitals and wasted state and federal resources. There is a raise in antisocial activities and crimes. While all of them could be potential voters.

There is a need to eliminating the Causes of Statelessness.

Despite the Technical Causes, there is a need to Reduce Red-tape / Administrative practices for the NRD to take more proactive measures. Above all there is a need for Political Will to eliminate statelessness, especially to Education & bring out the Awareness on the problem.

There is a cry for Political Parties to help to advocate for a review on nationality procedures by making sure that it conforms to international standards. The government and politicians need to establishment of a dedicated team to focus on this issues. There is an appeal to network & support NGO’s working on this issue and further more raise awareness in their constituents.

It is an urgent call to advocate for speedy resolution of individual cases from the constituents of the people’s representatives.

 

A Nation Divided

The reality of today Malaysia is people want a Malaysian Malaysia. It is important that who live in this country to support the idea that Malaysia for all Malaysians, but despite the outcome of the general elections, most of them aren’t believe in Malaysia for Malaysian.

 Most of the malays strongly believe that Malaysia must and may only remain to be ‘owned and ruled’ by Malays. Most of the Chinese are using DAP’s democratic views to demand more right for the Chinese. Most of the Indians are in worst situation where MIC or PPP are in shambles, and indians just want anybody who can support their rights.

 As long as the people in this country think of their racial ego and rights, we can never be united and there is impossible to have a two party system. This is because on both sides they support racial sentiments.

At the end of the day, this country is divided on racial ground. Malays voted against UMNO because they are sick of UMNO, Chinese and Indians just voted for any one who they view as people fighting for their rights. Moreover, the non malays are demanding better political voice and religious voice. They also want to see more non malays in police, army, government service, and  in cabinet.

UMNO has only 2 choices, to amend themselves to accommodate as little or just plough through the consensus that malays will always become rulers because of their sheer breeding capabilities (there are always more malays than non malays in numbers).

As the results, Malaysia will be divided, there won’t probably have a civil strife, but seeing more non malays leaving the country.

What need to be done:

• Political parties must be less corrupted, not money or contract driven.
• Politicians must do less of racial mongering. Must not always highlight the “ketuanan melayu”
• Malays who believe in a more malaysian malaysia are the more educated. And racism has no place in the future of malaysia.
• Islam is a religion which doesn’t promote racism, but the law.
• Malays are continue to believe the delusion that they are ok. Umno are forever giving the malays the handicap, are we actually helping the malays or are we killing the malays in the long run.
• UMNO or PAS who view Malay rights as fundamental.

Malays should realise that they are many unhappy chinese and indians out there, and malays must play the role to reach the chinese and indian community, because we are all living as one.

 

Permanent Political Paradigm Shift in Malaysia

The role of new media in the last election has been overstated as there was limited direct access (<50%) to the internet. However, the secondary access, e.g. downloading and printing out, SMS, WOM etc has a much greater impact on the electoral.

However it is not deniable that internet media made people like Jeff Ooi possible others include Tony Pua, Elizabeth, Nik Azmi etc – people know them because they are bloggers.

It is important to point out that in the next election in 2012, it is a long time in technology, broadband would be widely accessible and sophisticated phone would allow everyone to have direct access to new media, hence bring about a true political war in the cyber space.

The political paradigm shift is PERMANENT due to the followings:

1.         The Rakyat have buried the ghost of 1969 – implied potential violence if voted too many opposition has not occur.

2.         Though many thought that the result was because BN fumble and not because the opposition won – 80% voted based on that sentiment, but only 20% regretted. They saw the opposition run the state and it’s not disaster as claimed by BN.

3.         Rakyat were empowered. It was realized in particular among the non-Malays (especially Indians), they know there is now a choice. They will not likely be going back to MIC in the near future. On the other hand, Chinese especially in Penang who are famous for split voting did not do so this time. They were all for DAP, even PAS or PKR. Although it was a protest vote but it became a wake up call.

4.         Emergence of the 2 party system.

5.         Now there is a basis of comparisons – 5 significant states ran by opposition. The people can compare the accountability, clean, transparency. The general sense is that PR is not perfect but is cleaner than BN, e.g. LGE has always says he dun have experience in running a government but he also have no experience in corruption. PAS & DAP people are extra careful in everything they do. Penang people interviewed are quite happy with LGE, and if the federal government punishes the rakyat, they will only blame BN and not PR.  BN can not match what is offered by PR e.g. Freedom of Information Act.

6.         Media HAS changed. No law has changed but voices are now more critical, news covered is more balanced. The media realized that they have to change or the people will abandon them. It is noticed that more professional journalism emerging e.g. The Nut Graph, Project Malaysia to spur the mainstream media. They are under pressure. Never before, debate between governments and opposition televised nationally. With this we can see the maturing of the political system.

 

 

Dawn & Storm of the Malaysia Politics

Malaysia is now at its dawn moment.

It was observed that the people have no more trust for the government and government institution where corruption is so rampant that it is almost the norm rather than exception.

Economy is stagnant, despite the rosy figures. Inflation is so high that even our roads are not as congested as before, bearing in mind that Malaysians like to drive. Foreign investments are not coming in. Stock market is down.

Leaders of both ruling and opposition parties are at each others’ throats.

As opposition leader, Anwar will prompt the BN’s fall because there are still many unresolved grouses from the BN component parties within a coalition dominated by Umno.

It also showed that voters were disappointed in the BN and continued to reject the ruling coalition after the 8 March elections because there were no changes.

The point is, the votes were not Opposition votes. They were votes aimed at bringing in fresh ideas, new blood and the political energy to overcome the inertia.

The problem is, the Opposition is still a minority, and a divided one at that. It is unlikely that a shared coherent approach to the challenges facing Malaysia today will emerge from this side of the fence. But when people go to the ballot box, they may not be so rational. Some get carried away by emotion.

Anwar would not only be able to sway Sabah and Sarawak Members of Parliament, he might even be able to convince the BN’s peninsula-based component parties, such as the MCA and Gerakan, to cross over.

After Pak Lah came into power, he promised to fight against corruption and reform the police but until now, there are no obvious signs that show that his objectives have been realised.

There is no follow up and there’s a lack of political will. All we hear are just slogans. The Chinese community is very practical. They will judge (him) based on what they see is being done. The Chinese are starting to miss (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad because he had the force to push for economic activities. Compared to him, the current economy under Pak Lah is sluggish and slow.

 Although we don’t see the effect (of PM’s promises) immediately, one is still able to gauge the trend of his policies whether it is progressive, stagnant or regressive. If it’s so hard to hold an inter-religious dialogue, there were worried how much more time is needed to be given to him.

It is not possible to demand for something to be done immediately but it is also not fair to give unlimited time for him to prove himself. If there are no obvious improvements in his one term tenure as PM, this reflects the lack of political will and administrative force.

 

 

Voter Opinion on Current Issues

Four months after the 12th General Elections (or 308), Malaysian voters cite the state of the economy and political developments as main concerns.

 The opinion poll, 2nd Quarter 2008 Peninsular Malaysia Voter Opinion Survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research between 4th and 14th July 2008 to gauge voters’ perceptions of current issues, the state of the economy and leadership.

The poll’s findings will inform policymakers, politicians, and grassroots advocacy groups as they address voters’ needs as well as engage in public debate. The opinion poll also provides a view of the state of affairs approximately four months after the results of the general elections.

This poll is a part of Merdeka Center’s series of surveys intended to be carried out on a quarterly basis on issues of top voter concern and perceptions of the economic and views on Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

The survey reveals a large majority also indicated that they perceived the country was going in the wrong direction, based on only 28% who felt satisfied with the way things are going in the country.

This may be in part due to a deepening concern over the state of the economy as a majority (59%), were worried over economic related issues followed by 10% who cited political issues as being most important.

With respect to views on political parties and leaders, in two mutually exclusive questions, the survey found 44% of Peninsular Malaysia voters were satisfied with the Barisan Nasional while 57% report being satisfied with Pakatan Rakyat. The poll also found 42% of voters reported satisfaction with Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s performance as prime minister.

With respect to Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the survey found that only 11% believed in the allegation of sexual misconduct while 66% agreed that it “was a politically motivated action to disrupt Anwar Ibrahim’s political career”.

The survey also found that public confidence towards institutions likely to be involved in handling the matter to be relatively low with not more than 33% citing confidence. The Peninsular Malaysia wide telephone survey of 1030 randomly selected Malaysian registered voters was carried out between 4th and 14th July 2008 was funded via Merdeka Center’s internally generated resources.

 

Human Rights vs Politics?

What is the relationship between the human rights and the politics,  and how its functions?

Human Rights should be adopted by all political parties regardless of race and religions.

Greater encouragement for the human rights discussion but be focused on the issues and not the personalities, such as the issues of corruption.

We should focus on the amount of abuses of the resources but not the race and religions or particular personalities.

 

Hopes for the nation

The story goes: A young man in his youth answered a calling to the police force not able to endure the killings of MCA leaders around the country. In the course of fighting the communist terrorist, he was shot in an operation and it was his Malay sergeant that he survived. This was because they never think in term of race, but think as one team. Another memory that is very vivid was the operation in 1952 when they were ambushed and a fellow Malay comrade died in his arm due to late arrival of rescue helicopter. he still remembered his last words: “..please tell my mom…  I wouldn’t be back for dinner….” To him, this was Malay that died fighting for the future of all Malaysians.

It was frustrating for the Malays to struggle to catch up with others race. In the other hand, it is hard for the Chinese to lend a helping hand as they rarely sincerely help others to come up: they even never help another Chinese except their own family. It was in this background that may 13 happened, sparked by the lack of proper behaviour of non-Malay parties.

If there was a choice, the Malays would not want to even give citizenship to the non-Malays as they were already a threat to their livelihood. But they do not have a choice as the British government worried that more Chinese and Indians will join the communist if citizenship was not given. In return, special rights have to be given to the Malay for protection from being marginalized in their own land. Especial after May 13, NEP need to be in place to avoid wars. There was no doubt about it.

But today, why would a community still have a under siege mentality and in fear of racial extinction when they are already 60% (soon going to be 70%) of the population and their political power has reach unprecedented height in the history of the nation?

The unfortunate was what started off as a temporary intervention has become a racial culture. Now the cure of imbalance has reversed and worked against the race.

In 1978, the assassin of Tan Sri Khoo Shong Kok was arrested. When interrogated, he was not even a communist! They were just anti-nationals who do not understand why the NEP has to come about the way it did. For they can not identify themselves with the wealthy Chinese, they were just like the poor Malay and poor Indian, why the government have rob them of their chance to survive?

 

Look ing at the situation now there is similar anti-national sentiment among the societies. The doomsday come when the intelligence organization only report what the political master want to hear.

Looking at the critical state of the nation now, all component party must share the blame, for compromising too much to the demands of one party. They failed their quest for national unity and national justice even though they have high economy achievement.

The oligarchy that capitalizes on racial politics has to be break at any cost. Though we have to work for our respective community but no individual community can be more important than the nation.

It is only as a nation that we can survive in the era of globalization.

 

The Pulau Batu Puteh Issue in History

 

The main objective of the talk is to share with the audience his view, knowledge and experiences regarding Pulau Batu Puteh issue and also the ethnic relations in Malaysia. The event was engaging and meaningful as Prof Emeritus Dr Khoo was able to provide excellent insights towards greater understanding and appreciation of the nation’s history and development.

The points that brought out are:

• The Pulau Batu Puteh Issue

Tracing historical events prior to period before independent, it was clear that the Johor Sultanate had sovereignty over the island. The Johor empire was divided into two, new Johor empire and the Riau-Lingga Sultanate. During British colonies, the Sultan of Johor allowed the British to construct and upkeep the Horsburgh lighthouse on the island, solely with permission. Under the international law, the state secretary of Johor, writing in an official capacity, informed the Singapore government that the Johor Government does not claim ownership of the island. Cited to Johor treaties with Britain which said that Johor had transferred all its rights, powers and jurisdiction on matters of defence and external affairs to the British.

• Malaya and Malaysia

Before World War II, what was called Malaya was not a country, it was a term of convenience referring to several Malay kingdoms, sovereign Malay kingdoms, in the little space called the Malay Peninsula. There were nine kingdoms with 9 Sultans. And then apart that there were these fringe settlements, Penang, Malacca, Singapore, which the British colonised in 1867. The British used the Malay feudal system to rule the country, which means that the Malay chiefs and the sultans were the heads of the country, the British is the consultant to them on the administration, and British brought in the Chinese and the Indians to run the tin and the rubber industries respectively.  

• The ethnic in Malaysia

When comes to ethnic relations, the speaker believes that Malaysians need to own higher degree of maturity, putting ownself in other people point of view and discuss sociopolitical matters rationally without hurting the other party. And perhaps the most important for Malaysians, is that we must treasure the peace and the stability that we now enjoy as it’s easy to take for granted what we have now. We must never again descend into conflict.

The Pulau Batu Puteh issue and also the ethnic relations in Malaysia, what is the relationship?We need a greater understanding and appreciation of the nation’s history and development.

 

The Pulau Batu Puteh Issue

Tracing historical events prior to period before independent, it was clear that the Johor Sultanate had sovereignty over the island.

The Johor empire was divided into two, new Johor empire and the Riau-Lingga Sultanate. During British colonies, the Sultan of Johor allowed the British to construct and upkeep the Horsburgh lighthouse on the island, solely with permission. Under the international law, the state secretary of Johor, writing in an official capacity, informed the Singapore government that the Johor Government does not claim ownership of the island.

Cited to Johor treaties with Britain which said that Johor had transferred all its rights, powers and jurisdiction on matters of defence and external affairs to the British.

 

Malaya and Malaysia

Before World War II, what was called Malaya was not a country, it was a term of convenience referring to several Malay kingdoms, sovereign Malay kingdoms, in the little space called the Malay Peninsula.

There were nine kingdoms with 9 Sultans. And then apart that there were these fringe settlements, Penang, Malacca, Singapore, which the British colonised in 1867.

The British used the Malay feudal system to rule the country, which means that the Malay chiefs and the sultans were the heads of the country, the British is the consultant to them on the administration, and British brought in the Chinese and the Indians to run the tin and the rubber industries respectively.  

 

The ethnic in Malaysia

Malaysians need to own higher degree of maturity, putting ownself in other people point of view and discuss sociopolitical matters rationally without hurting the other party.

Most important for Malaysians, is that we must treasure the peace and the stability that we now enjoy as it’s easy to take for granted what we have now. We must never again descend into conflict.

 

Malaysian Chinese & UMNO

The relationship of UMNO and the Chinese community is like the tale of “The Blind Men and The elephant” – both look at the same object, but sees it differently.

UMNO leaders and the Chinese community leaders are aware that they have to initiate something to improve the not-so-cordial relationship. Unfortunately, like blind men touching different parts of an elephant both parties interpreted the same problem differently.

Hence, the proposed solution (in the form of a new consensus) will not bring about an amicable outcome but is likely to make the situation murkier. The misunderstanding between both parties, UMNO and the Chinese community leaders, is deep and unhealthy.

Since the beginning, in the “Malaysian Politics and Malay Nationalism” context, between majority Malay community and the Chinese community, it was accepted and understood that the partnership was a symbol of power sharing but not meant to be an equal one-a Malay Agenda. However, the political shrewdness of UMNO leaders then such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and others was able to reassure the other communities that UMNO’s intention was to lead and not to dominate.

However, Chinese community’s inability to understand the Malays’ anxiety and insecurity over its political fortune, sovereignty, special position and freedom has created a perpetual distrust and displeasure between them and UMNO. So much so that now a days, UMNO is seen as an agent of discrimination against the Chinese community.

In a recent survey conducted by a well-known research centre, a total of 54 percent of Chinese respondents thought that the NEP benefited only the rich and politically well connected. A total of 64 percent of the respondents are not in favour of the policy. Surprisingly,43 percent of the Malay respondents who felt similarly.

Other problem areas includes the Cultural Rights, Chinese Vernacular Schools, Constitutional Rights, Citizenship, Fair and Competent Governance and Racial Polarisation etc. Through the Merdeka Center survey, only 38 percent of Chinese respondents favoured the BN while almost 82 percent of them favoured a stronger opposition in the next parliament.

An UMNO which aspires for a democratic, peaceful, fair, equitable and prosperous Malaysia is more beneficial to the party than the one which pushes for the creation of a divisive, socially disruptive, economically backward and hostile Malay-sia.