I admit, he sometimes shows himself to possess a semblance of intelligence. Other times? Pure idiocy.
The government has rejected the automatic voter registration system as suggested by the Election Commission as Malaysians cannot be forced to vote, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.
“We can’t force (people to vote) in elections although forcing people is the way of the opposition,” said Nazri, taking a swipe at the Pakatan Rakyat MPs.
“(But) I don’t like to force people. Many of such cases (of coercion) has happened to that side (opposition),” said Nazri.
He argued that the decision to vote or to abstain should be left to eligible Malaysians.
Prior to that, Nazri said that the the government would not be lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, although citizens who are 18 years and above can join political parties.
“Although there are people who say if one is mature enough to get married, he or she should be old enough to vote, this is akin to opening the Pandora’s box,” said the Padang Renggas BN MP.
:| Haiyo.
Automatic voter registration = forcing people to vote?
Don’t so stupidlah, friend. Not in the august house at least, please. Jaga maruah sikit sebagai Menteri.
Mandatory voting is what they practice in countries like Singapore, where it is unlawful not to vote.
Automatic voter registration, someone really must tell this ninny of a Minister, merely means giving all eligible Malaysians the opportunity to vote without first having to register.
Is this the same as dragging people to the polling booths, or throwing them in jail if they refuse to go? Obviously not.
People would still be able to vote or not vote. This merely removes the sometimes troublesome intermediary step.
So stop monkeying around with this ridiculous spin doctoring – we have had enough of BN flers twisting the truth all the time.
For the record, I believe the Pakatan Common Policy Platform supports both automatic voter registration, and a voting age of 18.
As long as BN controls federal however, I hope we will stick it to the man by making we sure we win, even with playing by their corrupt rules. So make sure you, your friends, and your family are all registered!! Post office, 5-10 minutes :)
Are you happy with the state of our country today? Is our country and her people truly living up to their potential? What do you think of Malaysian society today? Should “race” be a major factor in how Malaysian citizens relate to each other? Whatunites Malaysians? What divides Malaysians? Do you think Malaysia needs to change? Why or why not? What are yourdreams/aspirations for yourself? Your country?
Do you love Malaysia?
These are questions that are rarely asked of our country’s youths. But we believe that all of them have a burning answer deep within their hearts. They may not feel at liberty to share it. Or they may feel like even if they did, who would listen? So many of these hushed voices go unheard. It’s the greatest loss to our nation…
Well, not anymore.
We believe that the youth of our nation have outstanding opinions about the issues facing Malaysia today. And we want our nation’s youths to know that they are NOT forgotten, forsaken or frivolous. Because it is their passion that will revive the hope in our nation – to once again rise up and be a shining example to the world for our peace and prosperity. And this willhappen when the youth of our country choose to stand up and speak out.
That’s where BANGKIT comes in.
BANGKIT is a nationwide search for songs written by youths, for youths and representing the aspirations of the youths in our country. We believe that they deserve…no, they NEED to be heard. And we’re going to provide the platform for them in the language that speaks to youths – music!
And to prove the point that Malaysians DO care about their country, we will be taking a huge step of faith – because we want to put this entire project together with NO MONEY AT ALL!
No money for salaries or allowances
No money spent on promotions/marketing.
No money spent on design.
No money spent on recording.
No money to hire talents.
No money spent on websites.
No money prizes
No money for prizes.
Tak ada, mei you, eelek, zip nada!
Impossible? Maybe…unless you and I decide to believe that it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE. We can both step out in faith that this project WILL succeed because there will be more than enough people stepping up to contribute their time, talents, facilities and resources FOR FREE, with no other motivation than their passion, creativity and love for country!
Have we got your attention yet?
If you feel inspired to join us, here are the details of BANGKIT:
MECHANISM
- A BANGKIT blog will be set up for this event
- Teasers will be spread throughout the internet (March 15 – 31)
- Selections begin, demo cuts of compositions to be submitted in mp3 format (April 1 – May 15)
- Songs will be featured on the BANGKIT blog for youths to vote on their favourites (April 1 – May 31)
- Professional judges will select 10 songs from the 20 most popular voted songs and results announced (June 7)
- A professionally recorded BANGKIT CD of the 10 selected songs will be released within 3 months of final selection (Target to be launched in September)
- A BANGKIT concert featuring local artistes will be held to showcase the selected songs (to be held either in November or December, in conjunction with SABM’s voter registration carnival)
- No prizes will be offered. Just recognition of participants’ talents and the chance for their song to be recorded.
PUBLICITY
- Primarily through the internet (facebook, youtube, twitter, blogs, websites, etc)
- Flyers and posters to be distributed to universities / colleges nationwide
- Exposure through the Mass Media
- Email, SMS & MMS
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Attach the ‘BANGKIT’ posters/banners/videos to your blog or website and make sure to link it to our blog. We will be releasing a series so that it keeps fresh and exciting
- Tell everyone you know about BANGKIT through word-of-mouth, blogs, facebook, twitter, email, SMS, MMS, etc. We need everyone in Malaysia to know.
- Keep updated at our BANGKIT blog or the SABM website.
- Put us in touch with people who are willing to contribute to BANGKIT’s cause for free.
Please support BANGKIT in our effort to bring the voices of our youth to the nation and the world!
P.S. As BANGKIT is still the pre-launch stage, please don’t reveal too much about us yet. If you feel a need to explain a bit more about BANGKIT, just say something like ”something big is brewing in Malaysian cyberspace and everyone under-30 should watch out for the announcement on April 1st”. We will be releasing more promos and information that you can post as the official launch date (April 1) approaches.
If you need more information, please email: jombangkit@gmail.com.
I’m happy to report that the Kg Terentang villagers have prevailed – if only for this morning.
The residents had been blocking all three entrances to the village from 7.30am, but dispersed at 11.50am as there was no sign of the TNB team as anticipated.
The residents had waited outside the main entrance, across which they have parked a bulldozer, and kept up their spirits with songs and speeches.
Their solidarity and bravery have carried the day (so far) – and scared a regime probably unwilling to bear any more bad publicity.
(hope they don’t come back later and try to sneaky sneaky, when less people are there)
We still hope for a just solution to this problem, that does not adversely affect the lives of good Malaysians just trying to get by.
With innovativeness, sincerity, and a willingness to put people before pure profit, I’m sure we can settle the matter amicably.
Tomorrow, some very brave villagers from Kg. Terentang in Rawang are going to face down TNB and possible hordes of police.
These villagers are only trying to protect themselves by preventing the building of high tension electric cables from being built over their homes.
Imagine if someone wanted to build one of those above your house? >:( All they want is to be left in peace so they can contribute to society in safety. The land is TNB reserve, but temporary leases were granted under the last state government – in what I understand was a vote garnering ploy, the ramifications of which the villagers are now being left to face alone.
If you’d like to show solidarity, the gathering will be at 7am, 17th March 2010 (Wednesday), at S.R.J.K(C) San Yuk, Kg Sg Terentang, Rawang. YB Gan Pei Nei – one of the best YBs I know – will be there, leading the way.
I think Malaysia’s independent media (MK, TMI) would do well to remind readers of this fact.
So, when you read in the papers that the Agong praised the PM, what is actually happening is that the PM is praising himself.
When you read that the Agong is speaking on the limits of free speech, what is actually happening is that Najib and BN are truly afraid of what Malaysians are actually saying, doing and thinking.
This is not because Malaysians are planning racial violence or any such nonsense (except maybe those in power themselves), as it has been proven time and again that normal Malaysians like you and me have no appetite for that sort of thing.
Rather, it is because Malaysians like you and me are starting to get sick of sloganeering that is so empty that the government has to resort to the monarch to prop up concepts like 1Malaysia with effusive (again, composed by the government, and entirely self serving) praise.
It is because we haven’t been seeing real action behind the rhetoric; because despite all the fancy plans and schemes, there is more corruption instead of less; and because while one hand of the government preaches unity, the other incites hate.
A truly successful PM would let his ‘famed’ walkabouts speak for themselves, and not so shamelessly stoop to having the esteemed institution of the monarch do his public relations for him. I think the PM’s actions here are insulting to both the Agong and to all Malaysians.
I wanted to highlight this piece by John. I think I saw it published online somewhere, but it has since disappeared.
I particularly enjoyed the comparison to Pak Lah. It’s amazing that someone could be worse than our famously inept former PM, but it does seem that Najib is headed that way.
He seems to take the worse from past PMs: Pak Lah’s inefficacy and weak leadership (within his party, and the country in general), coupled with the repressive tendencies of Mahathir (using the police to suppress ceramahs, confiscating books, etc) – which is what I think John refers to when he bequeths Najib with the dubious honorific of Bapa Kezaliman.
John had earlier written about Najibnomics – and how it’s empty rhetoric masked a completely failure to make any significant progress.
I think these things need to be repeated, so do help spread the word around. I think it’s an effective light to constantly cast our present PM in – at least until he shows some real seriousness about reform.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak was supposed to be a better Prime Minister than Tun Abdullah Badawi. But his charm offensive belies his failure to protect our democracy and our institutions. Najib replaced Pak Lah because of the Umno warlords protecting their own interests, rather than those of the country’s; he is a Prime Minister beholden to Umno politicos, not the Malaysian voters.
The biggest problem people had with Pak Lah was that he was weak. He said nice things, but he didn’t have the willpower to see them through. He was a career civil servant, not a politician. So we got Najib—a consummate politician.
But Pak Lah’s weakness was a double-edged sword. He let a lot of people get away with saying nasty things—our nation’s dirty laundry of corruption and racism was aired like never before during his time. But the Sarawak Tribune aside, the Abdullah administration also let people get away with a lot of productive debate. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad regime.
The Najib regime is a return to the era of Mahathir. One of the most pervasive and repulsive examples of this is the insidious 1Malaysia campaign. It’s simply a tiruan ciplak of Bangsa Malaysia or Wawasan 2020—a pretence of vision for the country. Nowadays when I go to official events, the emcees greet us: “Assalamualaikum dan salam 1Malaysia.” This is nothing more than Orwellian propaganda.
Now, I could tolerate propaganda if this amorphous 1Malaysia idea were actually productive. It seems that Datuk Idris Jala has been working his butt off to make it so. But as The Malaysian Insider has reported, Idris’s attempts to redress racial injustices have been rejected by the Cabinet and replaced with vague, token promises of sweet nothings.
Other reform efforts, such as the amendment or abolition of the ISA and our other anti-democratic laws seem to have fallen by the wayside. Despite the fanciful KPIs flying around, the government still cannot convince the public that our law enforcement agencies truly work to uphold justice. In the public’s eyes, the MACC is as tainted and politically biased as ever. The constant foot-dragging in the prosecutions for the death of A. Kugan and the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone disaster only suggest that Najib has no intention of meaningfully upholding the rule of law.
Under the Constitution, the same laws apply to all Malaysians: if one Malaysian has the right to peacefully protest, then all Malaysians must have that same right. Only a few days ago, the police stopped a major Pakatan rally in Kuala Lumpur because it was supposedly disturbing the peace.
When a bunch of rabble-rousers held rallies outside mosques across the country in January then—rallies where some people had the gall to call for further torching of churches—that wasn’t disturbing the peace? Apparently not: Najib’s regime protects your democratic rights only when it is convenient.
Now, Najib’s government is going further: it is confiscating books simply because it doesn’t like them. Cartoonist Zunar’s 1FunnyMalaysia is gone—I suppose because the title makes fun of 1Malaysia. Amir Muhammad’s Politicians Say the Darndest Things, which was perfectly acceptable for public consumption a year ago, is now gone from the shelves. Nat Tan and I edited a book on police brutality and custodial deaths, such as Teoh Beng Hock’s; this book, Where is Justice, is now gone too.
Again, forget the rule of law; these books are not officially banned. (Indeed, in some stores, the sales clerk will sell them to you from behind the counter.) What Najib has simply done is intimidate booksellers into taking these books off the shelves, so you do not even realise they exist. Again, the Orwellian parallels are frightening.
What I liked about Pak Lah is that as bumbling as he was, he was an accidental democrat. Under his still-authoritarian regime, we at least saw the beginnings of some productive and open debate. Heck, he even tried to reform the Anti-Corruption Agency and overhaul some of our draconian laws like the ISA before he stepped down. If Mahathir was Bapa Pemodenan, then I daresay Pak Lah could be Bapa Demokrasi.
Najib is set only on protecting himself and the cronies of his regime, democracy and the rule of law be damned. 1Malaysia does not do away with any of the serious injustices in our country; this is not a government for all Malaysians. This is a government for Umno. There is a chance, of course, for Najib to change course, and make 1Malaysia for all; he could, if he wanted to, be remembered as Bapa Reformasi. But unless he takes action, I fear we may well remember him as Bapa Kezaliman.
