jelas.info

ps- Selamat mengundi Sibu! :)

Amidst great turnouts at PR crowds in Sibu, we read of Najib once again relying on blatant bribery:

Making a last-minute pitch in a DAP stronghold, he announced an allocation of RM5 million for flood-mitigation projects in Rejang Park.

“I want to make a deal with you. Can we have an understanding or not?” Najib asked some 1,000 people who attended a public rally at the residential area.

“The understanding is quite simple. I help you, you help me,” said the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman.

“If Robert Lau becomes the MP on Sunday, on Monday I will ask the cheque to be prepared,” Najib told the all-Chinese audience.

O.O

How can we expect our policemen not to ask for bribes? How can we expect our civil servants not to demand under table money?! When our NUMBER ONE EXECUTIVE is the very one spouting “I help you, you help me.” ?!?

How many times have we heard this statement from the crooked traffic cop, or the government officer whose approval we need for our restaurant license?

How can we fight corruption in this country, with this sort of ‘leadership’ by example? >:(

The question that is really being asked here is: how much is our dignity worth?

In Chinese majority Sibu, I suppose this is an especially pertinent question.

The question may seem to be whether one should choose RM 5 million for flood mitigation projects, even if it means putting up with the same arrogant Umno racism that has existed for decades and continues today ala statements from Ibrahim Ali re: the May 13 gathering -

“Even Tun Mahathir himself had explained that the gathering was meant to inform, and that the gathering was peaceful, just as the Chinese also organise their own gatherings.

“If they do not feel safe with Malays having such gatherings, they can leave the country,” he quipped.

In fact however, the question is: what moral right could Najib possibly have to tie aid for flood mitigation to political choice?

Surely this is a) an election offence, and b) holding the rakyat’s own money and (more importantly) safety and livelihood ransom.

The people of Sibu *deserve* that RM 5 million to help stop flooding, REGARDLESS of who gets voted in tomorrow.

If Najib cannot see that, he must take us all for whores, and will clearly never, ever be a real statesman.

In reply to YB Kit’s tirade against dropping university standards, one professor says rankings aren’t everything.

I agree, rankings aren’t everything. But you can’t be telling me that everything is ‘well’ with our universities?

The recent case where 4 UKM students are facing expulsion for alleged involvement in the Hulu Selangor by-election reminds us what really keeps our universities from being great.

A university can never be what it’s supposed to if it is prevented from freedom of inquiry. Any institution of learning that places limits on the search for knowledge is clearly doomed to obscurity.

No matter how good one’s scientists are (and how can scientists become good without fostering true curiousity and intellectual exploration), the heart and soul of a university lies in a commitment to finding the truth – no matter how many untruths one has to sift through to get to it.

If Malaysia continues to repress students via laws like the AUKU etc, which limit students freedoms of speech and association, we will always be macam katak bawah tempurung, trying to look big with big buildings and infrastructure, but lacking the software, heart and soul to be Malaysians of towering intelligence.

Truly, sometimes it feels like money is the only language that Najib speaks.

Worse yet, it feels like money is the only language Najib wants Malaysians to speak:

At the gathering attended by some 1,000 local Chinese school teachers Najib also presented financial allocations of RM15 million for 65 Chinese schools in the district and RM3 million for two mission schools.

The RM15 million includes an allocation of RM5 million to five independent Chinese secondary schools in Sibu.

The remaining RM10 million was allocated for the 60 government-aided Sibu Chinese primary schools.

“But please. We help you, you help us,” he said.

“I will deliver what you want, you must deliver what I want and you know what I want,” said Najib.

Eeyerrr!! WTF? Is it just me, or does he sound like a cop trying to solicit a bribe?

It’s really disgusting, the way Najib tries to sully and buy everything democratic with dirty money, right back from the Perak days onwards it’s been a ruthless onslaught.

When it comes to really spend time with the rakyat and pay his respects to other cultures, he suddenly only has 3 minutes :P

Malaysians deserve better than this. They ARE better than this.

I hope the good people of Sibu will send the signal that they cannot be bought.

That the millions Najib throws around to cover his misdeeds belong to the rakyat anyway, and should be given back to them regardless of who is in power, or who wins elections.

No more money politics!

Firstly, many thanks to all new followers @NatAsasi! :)

“Happy” May 13 :P

I suppose the day should be marked, and I shall do so by sharing some unfinished thoughts about the future of ethnic relations in the country.

I have been thinking about this since Hulu Selangor, which demonstrated a trend of voting along more or less among ethnic lines.

This isn’t entirely true of course, since 35-40% of an ethnic group is still a considerable number.

Yet, the implications for the future of Malaysians politics are considerable. If politicians start to see – as the data might be interpreted to suggest – that Malays are leaning towards BN while the Chinese tend to support PR, the perceived incentive structures of the game may have unpleasant consequences.

IE, the results may encourage politicians to think increasingly among ethnic lines. Mahathir recently commented on this, encouraging Umno to strengthen its Malay base instead of trying to ‘pander’ to the Chinese.

Obviously, this would start a very unhealthy trend.

How do we counter this? I confess, I’ve not fully come out with ‘solutions’.

Over the long term, some considerable overhaul in our way of thinking would be ideal. But in the short to medium term?

Should Pakatan come up with more Malay specific policies and programs? Would this be perceived as a betrayal of their principles, or is it understandable realpolitik?

These things I still ponder.

In any case, on this day, let us rejoice in the fact that Malaysians have truly come a long way (and would have come even further still if not for BN), and will likely never ever again have the thirst for blood on our streets.

Zul Nordin:

“Some of the Perak people called me after (Ipoh Barat PKR chief) Fauzi Muda left yesterday.”

Zulkifli noted that Fauzi, one of the founding members of PKR in Perak, is a very influential leader.

Fauzi quit from all party posts yesterday, citing disillusionment with the party’s state leadership and said that at least 500 other members would follow in his footsteps.

“PKR is digging its own grave. Its leaders say that they are cleansing the party of the rot but what is happening is God is cleaning the party of the good people,” said Zulkifli.

“Politically, someone like Fauzi holds no threat to the BN so you cannot say that this was because of Sibu,” he said.

I’ll admit it doesn’t look good on the surface when PKR members leave, but I think “God is cleaning the party of good people” might be a stretch, to say the least.

Some points I raised in a recent article beg to differ:

Fairus Khairuddin recently announced all his debts have been cleared, Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Radzi have had corruption charges against them dropped, both Tan Tee Beng and Zahrain Hashim have denied accusations that their debts have suddenly been cleared post-crossover, while the latter has yet to deny claims that he tried to get a multi-million ringgit contract awarded to a RM2 company.

There appears to be not an iota of evidence that any of these individuals betrayed their party due to ideology, or any reason that could ever pass as noble or rakyat-oriented. We are not stupid — our eyes see, and our ears hear.

These are all the good people Zul is talking about? Eww.

And I note how he contradicts himself so easily (ingat Mahathir ke?) – Fauzi is a “very influential leader” yet “holds no threat to BN”? Apa ni?

In any case, is the PR government in Kedah about to be bought, just like Perak? I hope all are watching the situation closely.