Mumbai has awoken again to a spectre that’s never really asleep. On November 7, a Spanish exchange student was raped in her flat. A day later Aryanka Hosbetkar had a corrosive chemical thrown at her face. These two women have been scarred for life, but they are luckier than Pallavi Purkayastha, who was not just savagely molested, but also murdered this August. All three were around 26 years old and were home alone in the early hours of the morning. They were not exceptions but a fact that we aren’t allowed to forget – shamefully, angrily, helplessly. These cases, and the legion of lookalikes, remind us that the liberating metro is only a sham. The new breed of smart independent women think they can live by their own rules, but they continue to be trapped.

And the city itself is an accomplice, now built in a way which ensures that they are lonely in a crowd.

All three of the recent victims had assumed that they were as safe as a house. The Spanish woman lived in upscale Perry Cross road; Aryanka in Worli, the bridge between the seduc-tive poles of SoBo and Bandra; Pallavi’s Wadala is swiftly shedding its rags to emerge as the latest aspirant to flashy urbania.

Mumbai was the first, and for a long time the only working-girl-friendly city. But its new breed of career women can no longer have the relaxed conversations that their predecessors shared with their neighbourhoods. The Lost Mohalla is an inevitable sub-plot of the narrative of upward mobility.

High-rise residential towers match the ambitions of these young women who come to ‘shake the pagoda tree’ of globalisation’s neo-colony. They stride through the landscaped podiums of these housing townships, laptop satchels swinging with their shiny manes. They work late, and then they latchkey into their company-rented flats. Sometimes there are partners, but mostly their boyfriends come and go, like their part-time maids, to service specific needs. They guard their privacy fiercely, because that’s what protects their new and most valued asset, independence.

But like all Faustian pacts, this now comes with a chilling price. They don’t want to know their neighbours, preferring to barricade themselves in Manhattan-like isolation. They have no use for the camaraderie of the borrowed onion. They have neither time nor inclination to bond with the homemakers who gather every evening in the garden; they remain aloof in the gym. They lack that automatic ice-breaker, children. These new habitats too are intrinsi-cally impersonal. They may be multicultural, but it’s a mix, not a blend. So by choice and circumstance, these young women become the bigger outsiders in a community of strangers.

But they can also become victims of a more insidious set of rules. They may be able to safeguard their privacy, but their ‘bindaas’ independence is compromised by the mindset of their potential predators. Chafing caution becomes the most important tool in their survival kit. They have to be constantly conscious of the way they dress, of when they come home and with whom, For, in the building’s public spaces, they are exposed to security and maintenance staff, mofussil men unused to the metro’s insouciant matrix.

Pallavi had a live-in partner who wasn’t at home when the building’s watchman carried out his well -planned attack. He had tinkered with the electric supply, walked in with the electrician she had to summon, and pocketed her keys with which he made his second entry to rape. To him, this attractive lawyer who co-habited with a man not her husband seemed fair game. The break-in thief who saw the Spanish girl in bed found her sexually eligible simply because she was a foreigner. Aryanka’s attacker belonged to her own cycling group, but he didn’t think a woman had the right to refuse his overtures; she ‘deserved’ to pay for her defiance. As did the Mona Chowdhury, whose jilted lover hired six goons ‘just to slap her’, but one of whom slashed her face with a blade a week before the two recent attacks.

Sexual harassment is also increasing on the prowl. Conducting a straw poll in two very different audiences, Alyque Padamsee discovered that not a single woman had been spared, prompting him to launch the Izzat Ki Fauj. In Sheila Dikshit’s Delhi, such humiliations remain so endemic that no one even questions the innocuously dismissed eve-teasing unless it descends into molestation and murder, and even then eyebrows are raised at the fuss, and finger pointed at the victim.

In Mamata Banerjee’s Kolkata, ‘the sexual is the political’, a ghoulish mockery of early feminism. Bangalore’s sudden metromorphosis is doubly disastrous for its career babes eager to embrace the new global culture; they are targeted by, both, local diehards and the lumpen hordes who have poured in criminally to exploit its new riches.

The urban dream on which the country has posited its future needs smart young women in equal measure. They have risen impressively to fulfil it. Should we punish them for it by turning our cities into a sexual nightmare?

Nirbhaya. We can give the unnameable Delhi victim a symbolic name. We can turn her into an icon and make a shrine of the hospital bed from which she fights so awesomely to live. But no media burnishing can dim the atrocities inflicted on that hapless girl who, after all, did nothing more reckless than take a bus home. Our young women face every living being’s most fearsome prospect: the end of ordinariness.

In an annus horribilis, the good news is that it is about to end not with the whimper of cowering victims but the bang of massed outrage. The fearless 23-year-old, whom the TOI has christened ‘Nirbhaya’, was so bestially violated that her entire intestine turned gangrenous and had to be removed. Across the entire year, across the entire country, the bodily security of women has been under worsening attack, and there seems to be no way, no desire even, to yank out that rot.

The 21st century was touted as the women’s century. It may be, but each advance is countered with a steeper decline in status. We talk bravely of liberation, but each day’s headlines (and often several of them) emphasise the reality of Virginia Woolf’s warning: “The eyes of others are our prisons, their thoughts our cages.” We talk smugly of empowerment, indeed, see its evidence in the confident strut of the new genre of career women. But threats prowl across every opportunity, and the strongest are helpless against their leering, sneering violators.

This year mocked with greater cruelty, sardonically reminding us that the more things change for India’s women, the more they remain in chains. Delhi, uncontested Sty No. 1 of male chauvinist swine, has always unabashedly wallowed in this swill, forcing its women to negotiate an obscene minefield every time they step out of their homes – or even when they don’t. Disturbingly, this year’s statistics show that the next two unsafest cities don’t come from a similar cesspool. They are Bangalore and Hyderabad, urban idols whose new global persona as much as their traditions should have buffered them against the filth.

In culturally lofty Kolkata, 2012 began with the February Park Street gang rape; the response of its woman chief minister was a greater atrocity. On July 9, on a busy Guwahati street in broad daylight, a 20-year-old woman was groped and thrown to the ground with impunity for a full 30 minutes as a TV crew filmed without intervening; its reporter, Gaurav Jyoti Neogi, was subsequently charged with actually instigating the mob. Seven days later, Mumbai produced its own shocker. For the first time, several policewomen were molested by the lumpen among those protesting the alleged atrocities against Muslims in the northeast. Then, as the wounded year staggered to a close, the city’s roll-call of dishonour nailed the sham of it being the friendliest to women.

August 8, Pallavi Purkayastha raped and murdered by building watchman. November 2, Mona Chowdhury’s face slashed by a goon hired by her spurned boyfriend. November 5, a Spanish exchange student raped by a cat burglar. November 6, a corrosive chemical attack on Aryanka Hozbetkar, again by a rejected male friend. December 17, the very day after Delhi’s tipping-point gang rape, Sonal Lapshia’s skull and shoulders fractured with a sickle by a vengeful man who mistook her for his estranged wife. December 21, a young Nepali who had come to Mumbai in search of her husband, raped thrice in succession by the men to whom she had turned for help. December 22, as the capital’s most august citadels were being stormed, a 21-year-old stabbed by her ex on the staircase of their Bandra college. The frequency beggared belief.

We must look back in anger on 2012, and leave the shame to men.

A former student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut has filed a federal lawsuit against the school claiming it failed to protect her after a sexual assault at a fraternity’s Halloween party two years ago.

A Maryland woman identified as “Jane Doe” in the 27-page lawsuit filed Friday in a U.S. District Court in Connecticut charges Wesleyan with violating Title IX, thefederal gender-equity law. She claims the university failed to warn students about the troubling past of the Mu Epsilon chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. The lawsuit claims the frat was a known “Rape Factory” on campus, according to the Hartford Courant.

“[Wesleyan] acted with deliberate indifference towards the rights of Jane Doe and other female students to a safe and secure education environment thus materially impairing Jane Doe’s ability to pursue her education at Wesleyan in violation of the requirements of Title IX,” the lawsuit claims. It adds the university failed “to warn or otherwise take corrective action” against the fraternity that could have prevented the assault.

The Courant reports:

The lawsuit says that Wesleyan warned students in an email in March 2010 to stay away from the fraternity, saying that the school “could not ensure students’ safety on the premises.” Jane Doe, a freshman in the fall of 2010, was unaware of that warning from seven months earlier and went to the frat house’s Halloween party on Oct. 30, 2010, and was raped in a locked room, the lawsuit says. 

The lawsuit says that she told the resident assistant in her dorm about the assault the next day, Oct. 31, but that the resident assistant did not call police, campus safety officials or school administrators. Jane Doe was unable to officially report the assault until Nov. 1, 2010, because the student health services were closed on Oct. 31, 2010, which was a Sunday, the suit said.

The university’s administration advised students in campus-wide emails in November 2010 and in 2011 not to attend parties at the Beta house.

In February 2011, Wesleyan targeted the Beta house when it announced, “Students will be prohibited from residing in – or using for social activities – houses or property owned, leased or operated by private societies that are not recognized by the university.” FIRE, a free speech advocacy group, criticized the decision as a “threat to freedom of association.”

After the incident, UPI reports thatDoe’s identity became known, and protesters picketed outside her dorm. Doe transferred to another school.

John O’Neill, who’s accused of raping Doe, was guest of the fraternity that weekend and did not attend the university. O’Neill pleaded no contest to lesser charges and is serving a 15-month sentence.

The Courant reports the lawsuit also names the Mu Epsilon chapter of the fraternity and the Raimond Duy Baird Memorial Association, owners of the fraternity house property.

A Wesleyan spokesperson declined to comment Monday when reached by The Huffington Post.

UPDATE, 5:35 p.m. — The national Beta Theta Pi office based in Oxford, Ohio released a statement condemning O’Neill’s behavior as “horrendous” and said he “affected in an extremely negative manner both a young woman in the prime of her life and 64 Beta Theta Pi students unassociated with and unaware of his atrocious actions.” Senior staff leadership flew to Connecticut Sunday.

Beta Theta Pi has long prided itself on the respectful treatment of all women – at all times. With hundreds of women serving as chapter advisors, house directors and educational faculty to 8,000 undergraduate Beta students across North America – a practice fully employed by the Fraternity since inception of Beta’s award-winning Men of Principle initiative in 1998 – and a full roster of women working in senior-level management positions at the Fraternity’s international office in Oxford, Ohio, Beta has a long-standing culture and reputation of inclusivity, respect for all and a pointed focus of developing character and integrity in its members. Beta’s five core values are explicit and have been public since 1879: Mutual Assistance, Intellectual Growth, Trust, Responsible Conduct and Integrity.

Wesleyan junior and Chapter President Elliot Albert pledged their frat will treat women with “respect and dignity” at all times.

“The deplorable actions taken by Mr. O’Neil, a non-member, do not align with the attitudes and values of our Fraternity,” Albert said. “We offer our support to the victim and will continue to partner with Wesleyan’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) in order to stress the value of positive and healthy relationships on our campus and in our community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim.”

WILL NAJIB BOW BEFORE TAN SRI MUHYIDDIN A DISTINGUISHED AND FEARED MALAY LEADER IN EQUAL MEASURE

146,500 delegates from 161 divisions nationwide  want to see the winners at the polls  wants to see strong leadership.

One, work on qualified voters haven’t made up their mind about Najib. Malaysinder cannot polarises opinion, a fact unlikely to change. A cult-like fan following on one hand, to absolute haters on the other, people’s opi-nion on Najib is divided. Convincing either side to switch is never going to work. However, there’s a large group of fence-sitters, particularly new voters, who still haven’t made up their mind aboutNajib. They can be convinced.

However, an inspiring speech or the right slogan won’t do it. They can’t be marketed to. They have to be persuaded on a one-on-one basis. An army of educated, not overtly political volunteers, say i000 per division is required. They’d work one-on-one on no more than eight families, or about 20 votes a day. This would be the level of micro-campaigning required to convince people about the merits of electing someone like Muhyudeen

Trust needs one-on-one interaction, not mass media advertising. Since this process is time and labour intensive, 146,500 delegates from 161 divisions nationwide voter data and the right message kit with the volunteers would be important. Muhyudeenis one of the rare leaders to pull this kind of support together given his popularity amongst the youth. If one can work 6OO votes each Division in total, that’s , enough to cause a swing on Muhyudden side.

The time for feeling sorry, betrayed and wallowing in self-pity is over. With a new mandate from the Malaysian electorate and a 44-seat advantage over Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Parliament, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should be energised, selling his vision of the future to Malaysians daily and getting on with the job of governing this diverse nation.After all, isn’t this what he has craved for since taking over from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2009: his own mandate? Instead, six weeks after the polls, visitors to Putrajaya still paint a picture of a leadership still wondering why the sought-after two-thirds majority was not attained; of a leadership still talking about betrayal by Chinese voters and of a leadership mulling what was not achieved instead what has been gained.There’s little dispute about Najib  entering the  UMNO 2013 election race with  Muhyiddin . The more important question is, can he win? Or perhaps the more important one for Najib , what will it take him to win? The rumblings of the latest drama are thus likely to continue and, whenever the chips are down, turn yet again into a spectacle of a house divided.  There is no such elements as CONSCIENCE, ETHICS, MORALS, HONOUR AND HONESTY……There is only blind greed and contagious corruption…As the incumbent party president and the sitting PM, he has powers at his disposal to stay on and fight off any challenge, and govern the country effectively.

Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, as an “arrogant” and “divisive personality” who cannot take all sections along,will do all the dirty tricks to sure Najib will not be  UMNO President in whatsoever situation, or will lose his  prime ministerial post  One blogger even had an online poll on whether Najib should remain Umno president, 146,500 delegates from 161 divisions nationwide with some 75 percent of the  not supportive of Najib. sees matchwinner in Muhyiddin Najib no longer have the same idealistic as his father  facing an existential question.UMNO division leaders saw the need for the UMNO to emerge as the single largest in the next election G14 by a wide margin.Politicians Najib, like film stars and sporting icons,

If there is anything sadder in life than unrequited love, it must be unfulfilled ambition.Almost three decades ago, the flavour of that truth was hinted at by the subtitle of a biography of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, ‘An Unending Quest’.

That subtitle and what it entails are evoked by the news that the 10-term MP, the longest such occupancy by a federal legislator in Malaysian parliamentary history, who was returned from his southern Kelantan bailiwick of Gua Musang with a larger majority in the May 5 polls, has begun meeting with assorted MPs of the 13th Parliament.

The latter are said to be unhappy with the putative contestants for prime ministerial power in the country’s presently unstable political scenario.

These contenders are Najib Abdul Razak, who has said he expects to be challenged for the post of UMNO president with its undisputed claim to the PM-ship of the country; Muhyiddin Yassin, who is apparently timorous about his prospects of unseating Najib; and Anwar Ibrahim, who is stalled by the fact that the rousing crowds which attended his pre-polls rallies did not proportionately translate into actual Pakatan Rakyat seats in the House, a point that’s up for contention in the courts.

In other words, the situation is the best yet for a final shy at the prime ministerial wicket by the person who, for the better part of the past three decades, has been trying to be PM only to fail at each attempt by a peculiar combination of aristocratic hauteur and scruple.

When in April 1981, then Prime Minister Hussein Onn, having decided to retire, called aside UMNO Senior Vice-President Razaleigh to advise him to opt for the Deputy presidency of the party instead of the top post because Hussein wanted his Deputy Dr Mahathir Mohamad to succeed him, the more popular Kelantanese prince’s sense of amour-propre led him to abide by the elder politician’s wishes.

Odd Couple: Tun Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Out of deference to the retiree, Razaleigh went for the Deputy President’s post, to which he was surprisingly beaten, as much by the savvy style of challenger Musa Hitam as by revulsion at the hauteur of a Razaleigh campaign that showed little or no understanding of the Malay distaste for overweening presumption.

A beaten Razaleigh sulked for three years before vying once more for the Deputy President’s post in 1984, losing yet again to Musa by the same margin of 200-plus votes, a result that showed that the strong support Razaleigh long enjoyed in UMNO had not waned despite the man’s attenuation from the top two posts of the party, regarded as his not just by logical progression up the party hierarchy, but by something that is more aptly rendered by the term ‘manifest destiny’.

Rivals teamed up

In 1987, internal ructions in UMNO saw Musa teaming up with ex-foe Razaleigh to take on Mahathir and Ghafar Baba for the No 1 and 2 posts respectively, with Razaleigh and Musa losing in a vote the losers suspected was tainted with fraud in much the same way that Pakatan suspects the vote in several seats in Election 2013 was marred by cheating.

A court case ensued with the verdict eventuating in the creation of an UMNO splinter, Semangat 46, led by Razaleigh, of course. This party led the Gagasan Rakyat opposition coalition which drew DAP and PAS into a tripartite force that fought BN in Election 1990, the first time since the 1969 polls that UMNO-BN were menaced with the possibility of a loss of its two-thirds parliamentary majority.

But a devious Mahathir-inspired counter-thrust turned the Parti Bersatu Sabah’s eleventh-hour bolting of the BN stable and tying up with Gagasan, into a potentially sinister Christian plot against the Muslims of the peninsula.

Sufficient numbers of the latter were rendered anxious enough to rescind a nascent inclination to support Gagasan which stuttered to defeat at the 1990 polls after having surged on popular discontent with the authoritarian ways of Mahathir.

A Gagasan-led denial of BN’s two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 1990 polls would in all probability have triggered the defection of more parties from the BN stable to the Gagasan camp, and Razaleigh’s prime ministerial ambitions would have waxed on that wave.

But quirks of fate and dwindling stamina saw Semangat 46 fold as a threat and return to the UMNO fold in 1996, a retreat that, had it been delayed by two years, would possibly have seen Razaleigh installed in the Prime Minister’s office by the 1999 general election when widespread anger at Mahathir’s treatment of Anwar Ibrahim caused fragmentation in the Malay vote, the first time since the 1969 polls when Malays in large numbers decided that UMNO was not their party of choice.

Razaleigh, as a lukewarm UMNO member and MP, kept his counsel during the years of Malay-voter disaffection (1999-2008) with UMNO over the mistreatment of Anwar which saw the latter goaled for up to six years on trumped-up corruption and sodomy charges.

When a jail-freed Anwar led the opposition to a denial of the BN’s two-thirds majority at the March 2008 polls, Anwar approached Razaleigh the following month with an offer that Razaleigh be Prime Minister for a term, provided the latter could bring across the aisle 10 UMNO MPs allied to him which Anwar would transmute, aided by defections from BN MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, into a new government-forming parliamentary majority that would call for fresh polls.

Razaleigh wanted 30 seats for which he would choose the candidates at the fresh polls; Anwar, opting for Deputy PM for a term under Razaleigh, would only offer him 10.

The deal fell through and Razaleigh chose to continue to bide his time in UMNO, keeping his PM-ambitions smoldering on a low flame while mulling the pros and cons of a still-fluid political situation wherein UMNO’s loss of its long hegemony over Malaysian politics ramified across the national landscape.

The Final Thrust

Election 2013 confirmed that the loss was not a fluke. This has introduced uncertainty into national politics and has given fresh impetus to a final thrust for the PM’s post by a septuagenarian politician who has long felt that it is his manifest destiny to become PM of Malaysia.

Hence the recent meeting between Razaleigh and 12 BN MPs from Sarawak and Sabah amidst a renewed flurry of speculation that Razaleigh is to become either the Charles de Gaulle of Malaysian politics or be confirmed as its Rab Butler.

The former was renowned as the imperturbable man of destiny who retreated into the wilderness after leading the Free French forces into Paris in 1944 upon the retreat of the occupying Nazi power but was not immediately called upon to lead the bedraggled French people to the greatness he had always envisioned for them.

The wilderness became one of the more romantic stretches in political history when De Gaulle retreated to it only to return with triumphant vindication in 1958 to lead France.

Rab Butler was an estimable Conservative Party leader who twice missed out – in 1956, after Anthony Eden quit over the Suez debacle, and in 1964, after Harold Macmillan resigned – on becoming the PM of Britain although he was qualified by service and experience to take the post.

At a ripe 76 years, will it be the manifest destiny of a De Gaulle for Razaleigh Hamzah or will it be a Butler-an denouement to the career of a man to whom an unfulfilled quest must be as repugnant as a flight to the safety of sanctuary must have been for Muammar Gaddafi in the days of dictator’s doom in Libya circa 2011?

As a political strategy and a reward system for a politician who has stayed the course, promoting Khairy is sound. But it is also a path fraught with some craters. The UMNO Youth chief is still persona no grata on Mahathir’s list and his higher profile may provoke a stinging response from the former PM, a complication Najib and UMNO can do without.

Pugnacious Dr Mahathir said the need for a contest for the Umno president’s position when speaking to a group of fund managers in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.Dr Mahathir continues to enjoy some influence in the party and is infamous for leading the charge which eventually led to Tun Abdullah Badawi resigning as PM a year after the 2008 elections.Dr Mahathir continues to enjoy some influence in the party and is infamous for leading the charge which eventually led to Tun Abdullah Badawi resigning as PM a year after the 2008 elections.Najib still on tenterhooks The high-voltage drama in  UMNO began with  Umno bloggers have blasted Najib for allowing his aides to contest in the polls, arguing variously that the five men had little grassroots support in their constituencies. an unexpected bang public rebuke helped catapult to power. It ended, swiftly and just as unexpectedly, with a whimper:So … Read more

MIC seeks to fish in troubled waters MIC gangster chief Saravanan ugly legacy is rearing its head, using intimidation and clampdown to stifle the legitimate right of the people to express their protest against electoral fraud. both Saravanan the EC men have been arrogant in their replies to the widespread calls from the public to step down.

Amid calls from for “tough” action against the Opposition, Pakatan Rakyat leaders called on Malaysians to come together to celebrate their electoral unity, defend their fundamental rights and stop the elder leader’s “ugly legacy” from rearing its head.”It is very important for all Malaysians to come to Padang Merbok on June 22 to celebrate their electoral unity and to fight electoral corruption and fraud,” MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli

From speaking engagements to dinner with friends, one question continues to be asked: Why isn’t corruption going away? The question baffles the educated middle classes. Why is a reasonable, universal and noble demand for an honest society so difficult to achieve in a democracy? The despair increased after the results of the G13 Saravanan  went to the polls right during the double whammy of the Hindraf fiasco and. In most parts of the civilised world, such scams at election time would render the party untouchable. And yet,   Saravanan won.

to symbolise the death of democracy, the rallies saw unprecedented support from Malaysians of all walks of life, with particular interest shown by young Malaysians in their 20s and 30s.

So far, 13 rallies have been held and more than half a million Malaysians have gone to listen to Anwar and team speak. The last Black 505 rally was in Kelantan on Wednesday night, organised by PAS youth NGOs, and the next will be held at Batu Pahat, Johor on Sunday.

Anwar had promised to give Malaysians the chance to air their grievances over the “unjust” GE13 “to the world”. Indeed, many Malaysians had pinned their hopes on a regime change but despite winning 51% of the total votes cast, Najib managed to cling to power due to the massive gerrymandering put in place by past Umno-BN administrations.

The June 22 rally was the Pakatan’s vehicle for Malaysians to gather together in solidarity to show the Najib administration they would not tolerate any repeat in the next election and that reforms must be made immediately with alleged wrongdoers such as the controversial Election Commission chairman and deputy chairman removed and barred from involvement in any new re-delineation of constituencies.

Pakatan Rakyat’s 39 petitions involved 25 parliamentary constituencies and 14 state seats, while BN is disputing six parliamentary seats and 15 state seats.

Mustafa said BN’s move to file petitions showed that something was wrong with the Election Commission.

He added it was time for the EC’s leadership line-up to be revamped replacing them with more credible members trusted across both political divides.

“As long as EC refuses to change, we will continue to face problems. This means the commission needs to be revamped and given a new image,” he stressed.

What is a bigger waste of time is you SaravananMICkey mouse politicians sitting in parliament and not doing anything for the Indian community. Have any of you spoken to defend the rights of Indian men murdered in police lock up’s? Have you ever addressed the declining rate of Indian graduates in university? The MIC is the biggest impediment to the progress of rural Indians in this country. Your Tamil drama politics is over Saravanan. The only reason you won your seat in parliament is because you and your party have kept the rural Indians subservient to the government and have not thought them to be independent or to think for themselves. MIC’s days of keeping Indians stupid is over. They will rise and they will run you over!

Can the PM please describe the qualities that will be brought to the table by each of the selected individuals in the cabinet and help push his vision of transformation of the government, governance, politics, education and economy? After holidaying in London for a few years, Waytha came back unhindered, staged a ‘wayang kulit’ show and a fast, and voila! He becomes a deputy minister.Is this is the kind of real and effective representation Hindraf was talking about?
We all know a deputy minister post carries no weight and substance. Ask the MCA politicians, they can tell you the all about the position and responsibilities of a deputy minister. Waytha will be accepting the post, and it goes to show that his is a case of position rather than the sincere fight for the marginalised Indians.

We are used to MCA screwing the Chinese all the years, now you have another Indian leader (beside MIC) to prolong the suffering of his race.

 - Wayout-thamoorthy  a minister without portfolio and a backdoor one too. Let’s see what he can do.’

What? Hindraf chief P Waythamoorthy is a deputy minister? PM Najib Abdul Razak, we Indians do not want him. He is a sellout. Waythamoorthy is a fraud who cares only for himself, not for the Indians Just as suspected, there is a reason why Waythamoorthy colluded with Najib and now we know why. A simple deputy minister post is more than enough to buy him over.He helped Najib and Najib is helping him with a deputy minister’s post. Now the invisible print in the memorandum is getting clearer. the 59-year-old Najib has promised reforms and to put the Election Commission under the purview of Parliament but to most citizens, Najib may be “just talking through his hat”. They point to how the police have shown bias by arresting and charging Opposition politicians who organized these rallies, while allowing to escape scot-free those who have been caught red-handed inciting racism and public hatred. To many, there is not only no change but the prospects of change and reform have dimmed even more after GE13.

HINDRAF and MIC  pose the most serious threat to national security,Najib doesn’t seem to be coming to grips… pose the most serious threat to national security, the country doesn’t seem to be coming to grips..the font of the ideology of Hindutva and Its ideology identifying Hindutva as Malaysia’s hindraf nationhood inspires, in its very extreme versions,. Those who think corrupt free governance and prosperity are more important will vote for Modi. Those who worry about communal harmony and domestic security will not vote for him. It is an unhappy but unambiguous choice.

.related article Our police should investigate Kohilan Pillay the Psychopath ‘dramatising’ the temple issue to create violence

The sudden ascent of stocky, 62-year-old Narendra Modi as a serious contender for the nation’s leadership has taken people by surprise. The general election is still a year away but the average, open-minded, middle-of-the-road Indian wonders how to think about the polarizing chief minister of Gujarat. Either you love him or hate him, which is precisely why one must not react with a kneejerk but try and go beyond the shallow surface of a flawed but remarkable human being.

It had surprised me that day, June 17 2004, to see Ishrat Jahan’s corner of their one-bedroom house in Mumbra, a largely Muslim ghetto separated from Mumbai both by time and distance. Her table was full of books — mathematics, statistics, science. There was also a half-read novel. One of her teachers at the Khalsa College, where she was studying (BSc, second year), had told me the girl wanted to teach maths after she graduated. “She was very curious, very keen,” he had said.

Ishrat, then just 19, had been killed by the Gujarat police in Ahmedabad two days back, on June 15, along with three men for attempting to assassinate Narendra Modi. An AK-47, which investigators later said might have been planted, was found next to her bullet-splattered body. She didn’t have a chance.

As I pursued the story — catching up with her teachers, friends, relatives — to draw a portrait of the kind of girl she was, the one person I was most reluctant to meet was her mother, Shamima Shaikh. I thought she would rave and ramble, curse the police and attack the media. But the person I came face to face with was quiet and composed — to the extent that it alarmed me.

Someone offered me water as I sat on the floor with a group of people who had come to the house to console the distraught mother and Ishrat’s four sisters. All that Shamima kept saying was, “I don’t know how she reached Ahmedabad.” Zeenat, the eldest of Ishrat’s siblings, who would be closely interrogated and grilled by the Mumbai police in the days that followed, did most of the talking. She, too, seemed bewildered by the fact that Ishrat was there with the three men — one of whom, in the words of a few Gujarat cops, was “close” to her.

Looking around at the only room in Shamima’s shanty, one thing that struck me was the dirty curtains. They either didn’t have a change or hadn’t bothered with it as very few not their impoverished kind came visiting anyway. It was probably the former. If Ishrat was a terrorist she was clearly not doing it for money.

Strangely, the Thane police, like many others who knew Ishrat in Mumbra, was the first to vouch for her “good behaviour”. In fact, as I had reported then, it was the cops in Thane, under whose jurisdiction Mumbra falls, who had dealt the biggest blow to the credibility of the Gujarat police’s “fidayeen theory”. According to the latter, the four who were killed were members of a Lashkar-e-Toiba suicide squad out on a mission to eliminate chief minister Modi.

On June 17 itself, after searches at Ishrat’s Mumbra house, police said they found “no evidence” to show she was either a militant or was linked to any radical organisation. ACP Amar Jadhav had then announced: “We have found nothing that could connect the girl with any terrorist group.” They said they had scanned every piece of paper, every part of the house before they made that statement.

At Ishrat’s college — where mathematics and statistics were her main subjects — her class teacher and principal had expressed shock. She must have been the quiet type, vice-principal SC Dhume had said, adding that if she had opted for maths and stats she “must have been serious about studies”. Principal Ajit Singh seconded that: “She seemed to be very particular about her classes and her practicals. I have had no complaints about her.”

The timing and quickness of the encounter had surprised many then. Modi, still struggling to explain the riots that followed the Godhra train carnage, was shaky in his chair, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and some of the BJP brass seemingly unconvinced by his show of innocence. The rapid developments in the Ishrat case, eight years after her gunning-down, are surprising many now. Modi, having consolidated his position in the party, is these days gunning for greater glory.

On its part, the CBI says it has proof senior officials of the Intelligence Bureau and the Gujarat police were involved in the “fake encounter” — yes, they are calling it that — of Ishrat Jahan. Apparently, a top IB man and a couple of high-ranking Gujarat cops had colluded to generate intel inputs that would eventually lead to the killings.

The truth may come out soon. Or it may never, as is often the case in our country. There are hundreds who suffer for things they haven’t done. And there are more hundreds who get away with everything they do. Long after Ishrat is gone, I don’t know how her story will end. But I do hope some day Shamima gets the true answer to the only question she has been asking all these years: Why was Ishrat in Ahmedabad that day?

Margaret Thatcher, who led Britain’s Conservatives from confusion into the promised land of three election victories, believed that a political party must serve as a vehicle to capture power, not limp along as a platform for views. Ideas were a mirage unless anchored in the oasis of government.The present impasse is more complex. Both government and opposition have disappeared, the first replaced by aggressive paralysis, the second by rampant turmoil. UMNO torn by internal and external dissent is a train that has not left the station.History is never so silly as to repeat itself, but there are echoes. We are in a phase similar

In the wake of the party’s rout in G13 Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also communicated to Najib the need for democracy to thrive in UMNO. In contrast, the mainstream media, under direction from Putrajaya, has been sourcing comments and quotes from the likes of Khairy and other UMNO politicians supporting a no-contest, a move which will keep Najib as UMNO President.in addition to being close to Najib, Khairy now enjoys good ties with the First Lady, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, a seismic change from sometime ago.

There are five underlying factors that point to a challenge: First, the modus operandi in UMNO is money politics. This was a legacy of the Mahathir years and has become deeply entrenched, feeding into the concerns over corruption and governance. For many of the delegates, they join the party for the perks and invest in positions for potential financial gains.

Elections are an integral part of the financial rewards in the system as they involve the distribution of incentives. The logic is simple – the more the competition within the party, the more the incentives. Given the modus operandi in UMNO, there are vested interests in fueling contests.

The higher the level of competition, the greater the promise of rewards. This election involves more people, so competition is costly, involving mass outlays of funds to more people than ever before. Part of the call for the return to the old 2,000-delegate system is driven by this economic ‘money politics’ reality.

There is a tension here between those who would like to minimise costs, with those who would like to receive dividends. The numbers are on the receiving ends, thus the systemic pressure for greater competition.

Second, UMNO as a party is deeply factionalised. This is not unique. In fact for dominant one-party system this is the norm, as seen in Taiwan, Japan and Mexico. All political parties have some degree of internal divisions. These divisions, however, feed into competition as the leadership has to accommodate the various warlords.

In some cases, such as recently in Negeri Sembilan, the leadership has had to take sides on who to elevate to positions in the state government. Warlordism fuels competition by bringing national politics to the state level and vice-versa. Currently, the intensity of conflict at the state level and underlying resentment against UMNO’s current leadership for perceived favouritism contributes to pressure for more leadership competition.

Najib’s advisors also believe that in the run-up to the party polls, it will be important to bring as many “fighters and orators” into his camp, especially if there is a challenge to the top position in the party.

This thinking explains why the likes of Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Datuk Tajudin Rahman, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz were rewarded with positions as Ministers and Deputy Ministers.

Muhyiddin has no choice but the take on Najib in the coming Umno presidential election cleansing   Umno’s favouritism agenda,UMNO  is in search of its Thatcher. Transformative change often needs the gloom of a crisis avoid a split  because it had become a hippopotamus, wallowing in its own quagmire. Thatcher, straddling the same span between collapse and opportunity in 1975, did not wield an axe because she was confident that her party could accommodate the past without sacrificing the future. Both Mahathir and Thatcher were called divisive, but they understood that they had to be on the positive side of the dividing line. They had to offer solutions to a despairing electorate.

there is anything sadder in life than unrequited love, it must be unfulfilled ambition.Almost three decades ago, the flavour of that truth was hinted at by the subtitle of a biography of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, ‘An Unending Quest’.

That subtitle and what it entails are evoked by the news that the 10-term MP, the longest such occupancy by a federal legislator in Malaysian parliamentary history, who was returned from his southern Kelantan bailiwick of Gua Musang with a larger majority in the May 5 polls, has begun meeting with assorted MPs of the 13th Parliament.

The latter are said to be unhappy with the putative contestants for prime ministerial power in the country’s presently unstable political scenario.

These contenders are Najib Abdul Razak, who has said he expects to be challenged for the post of UMNO president with its undisputed claim to the PM-ship of the country; Muhyiddin Yassin, who is apparently timorous about his prospects of unseating Najib; and Anwar Ibrahim, who is stalled by the fact that the rousing crowds which attended his pre-polls rallies did not proportionately translate into actual Pakatan Rakyat seats in the House, a point that’s up for contention in the courts.

In other words, the situation is the best yet for a final shy at the prime ministerial wicket by the person who, for the better part of the past three decades, has been trying to be PM only to fail at each attempt by a peculiar combination of aristocratic hauteur and scruple.

When in April 1981, then Prime Minister Hussein Onn, having decided to retire, called aside UMNO Senior Vice-President Razaleigh to advise him to opt for the Deputy presidency of the party instead of the top post because Hussein wanted his Deputy Dr Mahathir Mohamad to succeed him, the more popular Kelantanese prince’s sense of amour-propre led him to abide by the elder politician’s wishes.

Odd Couple: Tun Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Out of deference to the retiree, Razaleigh went for the Deputy President’s post, to which he was surprisingly beaten, as much by the savvy style of challenger Musa Hitam as by revulsion at the hauteur of a Razaleigh campaign that showed little or no understanding of the Malay distaste for overweening presumption.

A beaten Razaleigh sulked for three years before vying once more for the Deputy President’s post in 1984, losing yet again to Musa by the same margin of 200-plus votes, a result that showed that the strong support Razaleigh long enjoyed in UMNO had not waned despite the man’s attenuation from the top two posts of the party, regarded as his not just by logical progression up the party hierarchy, but by something that is more aptly rendered by the term ‘manifest destiny’.

It has taken about a quarter century for a generational challenge within oppposion to rise from simmer to surge. The they became a credible force in 1989, to fashion a stable alliance. But questions inevitably arise during the forlorn years of defeat, when fusion unravels into confusion.

When a jail-freed Anwar led the opposition to a denial of the BN’s two-thirds majority at the March 2008 polls, Anwar approached Razaleigh the following month with an offer that Razaleigh be Prime Minister for a term, provided the latter could bring across the aisle 10 UMNO MPs allied to him which Anwar would transmute, aided by defections from BN MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, into a new government-forming parliamentary majority that would call for fresh polls.

Razaleigh wanted 30 seats for which he would choose the candidates at the fresh polls; Anwar, opting for Deputy PM for a term under Razaleigh, would only offer him 10.The deal fell through and Razaleigh chose to continue to bide his time in UMNO, keeping his PM-ambitions smoldering on a low flame while mulling the pros and cons of a still-fluid political situation wherein UMNO’s loss of its long hegemony over Malaysian politics ramified across the national landscape.

There is nothing sentimental about power.Tun Mahathir kept the Left onside only as long as she needed them,

One month after GE13, attention has turned to the UMNOelection. Rumours are already circulating about possible challengers to the ruling party’s No 1 post. While the Black 505 rallies continue to mobilise protest against the May 5 general election that many recognise as seriously flawed, the dominant political party is myopically focused on its party polls and who will lead the party after October.

The flurry of activity in recent weeks – from the call to make UMNO more inclusive ethnically to the pleas for the return of the 2,000 delegates as electors (rather than 146,500 members) are all part of the now intensifying internal UMNO political jockeying.

All eyes are on the contest for the top leadership position, especially given that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak performed poorer electorally compared to his predecessor and did not fully deliver on his promise of winning back Selangor and a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

More and more calls are being made to keep the two top positions uncontested. In UMNO, however, the real politics is happening behind the scenes. The grassroots are mobilising for the first stage of the party electoral process – the divisional polls.

Despite the public rhetoric, current conditions point to a competitive contest, in which if conditions do not radically change, Najib will likely face a credible and substantive challenge to his position.

The upcoming Umno party polls will be held under a new system whereby 146,500 members get to vote instead of previously limited to only 2,000 over delegates.

There will not be any obstruction of getting a certain number of open endorsements from the divisions before a leader qualifies to contest.

Once, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was not even qualified to be a contestant when he could not get the required minimum nominations from the divisions. This time it is a different scenario. It’s an open contest.

The influence of money politics and the warlords is somewhat diluted as there are more than 100,000 delegates to content with. For this reason alone, Razaleigh, as a third faction within the party, stands a chance (however slim) to win the presidency if he were to contest.

There are many Umno members who are not aligned to either Najib Razak’s or Muhyiddin Yassin’s group may side with Razaleigh. Both Najib and Muhyiddin are seen to be of equal strength and Razaleigh may just scrape through due to the split votes.

Remember how in the last Umno party election in 2009 for the Umno Youth chief when Khairy Jamaluddin won a narrow 304 votes against his rivals, Mukhriz Mahathir (232 votes) and Mohd Khir Toyo (254 votes)?

It is an exciting time for watchers like us. In the end, Umno may be brought down not by its enemy, Pakatan Rakyat, but instead implode from within.

Umno breeds warlords; and warlords demand positions, perks, contracts, jobs. If they do not get what they want; they will look for someone who can deliver the goodies.

This disease of warlordism will eat into the vitals of Umno, like termites; and thus send it into the Intensive Care Unit. Whether it will survive or not depends upon the party leadership.

Transformation means getting out of the rut and moving forward and march in tandem with the majority of Malaysians, not just Umno Malays alone. Modern, moderate Malaysians want a peaceful, harmonious, and happy Malaysia.

Racism and racists have no place in Malaysia. The loss of two Perkasa candidates in Shah Alam and Pasir Mas clearly indicated that voters want moderation, not extremism.

Umno members must be realistic and come to terms with reality. They cannot hide their heads in the sand and pretend that nothing happened in the recent general election. A strong tsunami had hit BN. It must change or be changed.
Najib either has to accommodate the warlords or cut them down to size to safeguard his own position. Knowing him, he would go for the former and win himself one more term as Umno president.

He has no guts to slog it out with his internal “enemies”. The country would be limping along until after the Umno election. But the young Turks in Umno could be a wild card.

The fairly exhaustive organizational exercise touches management of UMNO deeply, with Najib seen to have given Rosmah a key role in UMNO Presidential election machinery to interface with the party as well as government The changes are linked to  Najib’s  bid to appear focused ahead of UMNO election

with Oxford educated Khairy Jamaluddin as a key aide to Rosmah.In an exercise influenced by the treat of losing his PM post, a much-awaited UMNO organizational revamp Will see the elevation of leaders seen to be close to him, removal of some non-performers while trusted hands continue to retain charge of important party tasks.Changes The Prime Minister’s Department is now like The White House, where the spokesman manages press relations. This is a good move since Khairy Jamaluddi is charismatic, intelligent and articulate; he has a way with words, an essential quality of any spokesman. It is also a reward for his patience and service to UMNO in particular for his support of Prime Minister Najib who is fighting to keep job as Party President and Prime Minister , The son-in-law of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi has become a loyal cheerleader for the PM at a time when there is roiling debate on the PM’s strategy and performance at GE13 and growing discourse on whether there should a no-contest for the top UMNO position at the coming polls.

To observers, it makes political sense that Najib  is seen to have no complete control of the ruling dispensation while there are differences in  Rosmahi’s elevation as poll mascot.a high-voltage divorce with its old ally Mahyudin.

Just a week before the 13th Parliament of Malaysia meets for the first time, Barisan Nasional members of the house are in talks that could decide whether the Prime Minister gets to enjoy his personal mandate till the next general election.

While there is no immediate threat to the Barisan chairman’s term in office, pockets of disgruntled coalition lawmakers want a better deal or else they might either switch their support to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or seek a change of leader in the Umno polls at the year end.

Analysts say PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not in a position to argue with these MPs. He won just 133 of the 222 federal seats, so if just 23 of the Barisan MPs cross to Pakatan Rakyat for a clutch of posts and other privileges, this could see a new government in Malaysia.But The Malaysian Insider understands that the implicit threat of such a move is being used within Umno circles to make sure Najib will toe the party line and cut back on his economic, government and political reforms.

Pro-Umno bloggers from the Mahathir camp have already asked for key advisers to quit their posts to take responsibility for their strategies that failed to help Barisan win more seats in Election 2013. These strategies included giving more cash and aid to non-Malay schools and organisations, and relaxing business restrictions.

Together with Malay rights and business entities, they believe that Najib must now provide more for Malays and ignore the other races – a view that is alarming to Najib’s allies and also friendly foreign governments who have encouraged the Prime Minister to continue his reforms.

But Najib has reiterated he will continue such policies under his transformation programmes so as to bolster the local economy and drive Malaysia to a high-income nation by 2020.

He has also named 20 East Malaysian MPs as ministers and deputy ministers but more want other positions too, apart from Umno lawmakers who were not named to the Cabinet or other senior jobs.

“He has to appease the Borneo MPs and also the Umno MPs or he faces a rebellion on his hands,” a senior Barisan politician told The Malaysian Insider.

Najib is not the first Umno president to face such a threat.

His predecessor faced a similar threat after Election 2008 from within his party and also Pakatan, which had boasted it would capture Putrajaya by September 16 that year by poaching Barisan MPs.

The administration of Tun Abdullah Badawi took the threat seriously enough to send 49 MPs away on an agriculture technology study tour of Taiwan, more than a week before that date – Malaysia Day.

Pakatan lynchpin PKR sent several leaders to Taiwan to speak to the Barisan MPs but the threat never materialised.

But that was enough to lead to Abdullah stepping down as Prime Minister and Umno president seven months later, in April 2009, after pressure from those MPs and his own party.

Interestingly, some of the MPs who went on that Taiwanese tour are now said to be part of a group that has been discussing with Tengku Razaleigh about crossing over to Pakatan.

The Kelantan prince, now the only MP from Najib’s father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein’s era, has had ambitions to be Prime Minister since 1987 when he challenged Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the Umno presidency.

“Those in talks with Ku Li can move as early as next week to make their point,” said a Barisan source, calling the former Umno vice-president by his moniker.

But there are doubts that Tengku Razaleigh can succeed in getting enough Barisan MPs to join Pakatan in a rare vote of no confidence against Najib or cross over for a unity government.

“Like Pak Lah, Najib can beat back such a challenge. But like Pak Lah, will that be enough to quell Umno from acting against him?” the Barisan source said, calling Abdullah by his popular name.

“Now, that’s the million-ringgit question, again,” he added.

But the source said he expected Najib to make some moves to counter the twin threats against his job in the coming week before parliament opens.

“It should be an exciting week,” he said.Media tries and judges….and is also the arbiter of probity and righteousness….Have you noticed this other thing that has been happening in our media space recently? That whoever takes media’s side is painted in virtuosity, and against, in dark colors of immorality. I suspect media does this with an agenda. To pull in more support … Read more

Political situation is of concern to many of Malaysia’s top echelon of businesspeople, politicians, civil servants, and even members of the Royal Families. There is a strong feeling amongst the country’s elite that Malaysia needs good governance rather than politicking. Many are very sympathetic to the concept of a national unity government, as a solution to this impasse, as it appears any election will not bring a harmonious result the nation requires. The idea of a national unity government is not without any precedent,.Andwe are not satisfied that our decision today has put a spanner in the propaganda machinery that was spinning the perception about someone’s inevitable rise to power.

In a hard-hitting interview,TAN SRI MUHYIDDIN  said the UMNO would be dominated by one person and everybody else had been tamed into submission is Najib that important to us Malays entire UMNO has been bulldozed. In politics you don’t go by the technicalities of statements. politician take decisions based on their assessment of the situation the writing on the wall was very clear, and we could not have fooled ourselves into believing that nothing has happened.With the perceived weakening of Najib Bin Razak’s position of tenure as Malaysian Prime Minister, there is deep speculation within the country about moves afoot to form a national unity government.We would have had only ourselves to blame if we had subscribed to the charade of normalcy. We would have been presented with a fait accompli which would have been completely antithetical to our ideology.Abuses are heaped on journalists as well as others, who don’t agree with a particular viewpoint or join in the propaganda. Is this democracy? What happened to right to dissent? All these things helped make up our mind

Since the Barisan National’s re-election on May 5, there has been a distinct shift in stance towards ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ or Malay privilege, at the cost of 1Malaysia inclusive philosophy. There is now little talk about the Government Transformation Program, and after a relaxed stance towards rallies by the opposition, authorities are now taking stern action towards Anwar’s 505 movement with mass arrests of demonstrators over the weekend. Even Najib’s calls to make UMNO more inclusive has aggravated many within his party. It is irrational exuberance. The euphoria is of no consequence. It does not reflect the popular mood and opinion. The fact is that we can hope to bring an alternative government only under the leadership of someone who do not enjoy the confidence of all sections.We could not have compromised our basic concern and ideology. We wanted an amicable parting and invited them for a discussion to sort out the modalities, but were spurned. Then their ministers stopped attending to their work, and did not turn up for the meeting of the Cabinet. The Constitution does not recognize a scheme where people can remain ministers even when they refuse to work. People gave me a mandate so that I work for them. I could not have ignored the responsibility.

If one looked through the blogs and even the mainstream media over the weekend, so many different scenarios and numbers have been canvassed. Two speculative scenarios exist. One involving Premier Najib himself and the other with a move by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or Ku Li as he is known.

The first option would involve Premier Najib Bin Razak making a move to bring in parties from the Pakatan Rakyat into the government, as has been spasmodically mooted over the last few years. Such a move would probably ensure UMNO with a much brighter future electorally. This would stall the Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir forces, and if completed smoothly, would sure up Najib’s position as President of UMNO in the coming October elections. Such a move would also allow Najib to change the narrative from the ‘ultraist’ direction it is going, to a more moderate and inclusive one. Such an achievement could elevate Najib in status, which might create a very positive legacy for him.

However this move would also seal the fate of the MCA, Gerakan, and maybe even the MIC, as they are tossed aside for the DAP, PAS, and PKR.

The probability of any national unity government would hold many outstanding issues which must be solved before it could happen. This would include policies and corruption, where it is rumored the new minister in the PM’s office Paul Low is shocked by the extent of waste and corruption within government. Determining a way for all parties to work through these issues could be big stumbling blocks to any potential agreement.

The biggest problem with any potential formation of a national unity government would be that any initiative by Najib may lack the persuasion and statesmanship needed to pull of such a big coup. His track record has been a very passive one during his tenure as prime minister, especially since the May 5 election. The formation of a national unity government would take a massive amount of negotiation and convincing to all parties, including the UMNO party membership. To date Najib hasn’t shown that he has got what it takes in this area.

The Tengku Razaleigh option has been gathering much speculation over the last few days, and there is a difference in the stories circulating as to whether Ku Li may make a bid for the UMNO party presidency, or seek to move a no confidence motion in the Prime Minister during the first day of Parliament sitting. His discussions with members of parliament from both sides fuels speculation about the latter. Ku Li is reported to be meeting political leaders in Sabah and Sarawak who are disillusioned with Najib for not appointing them to the Federal cabinet. Moreover they feel let down with the solid performance that they achieved in support of the BN with little reward to Sabah and Sarawak. Finally they have concerns about how a weakened BN will be able to govern effectively. Although there is much wishful thinking about this scenario, such a dramatic seizure of power doesn’t seem to be Ku Li’s modus operandi.

So what are the realistic chances that a national unity government could occur sometime in the near future?

A meeting between Najib Bin Razak and Anwar Ibrahim, although denied by Anwar, was reported to have taken place at the Istana Presiden Indonesia in Jakarta last Saturday. It can only be speculated upon what was discussed, but with pressure put on Najib by Mahathir, Najib’s options are limited. Najib’s bid to stop the two top posts within UMNO being contested by election was met with great animosity by pro-Mahathir bloggers. Likewise the authorities clamping down on the 505 rallies might put some pressure on Anwar to consider a national unity government, if that was indeed on the agenda of their discussions, if at all they occurred.

Any attempt to seize the initiative in trying to form a national unity government by Najib would no doubt meet with the full Roth of Tun Dr. Mahathir, who would go into overdrive to replace him as PM. This fact alone casts doubt about any moves by Najib to discuss the possibilities of forming any type of national unity government. It would be a brave man who crossed Tun, yet Najib is also desperate for self survival.

The logistics of organizing any form of national unity government which could survive the whole parliamentary term would be horrendous. Allocating ministries among DAP, PAS, and PKR, developing policies, and creating a working cabinet among previous adversaries is a tall order. However if this could be achieved a certain amount of political stability would be achieved and the centre of political gravity would return to the peninsula, something many want.

A national unity government might give the people of Malaysia the feeling that some of their aspirations have been met.

Ku Li first postulated a national unity government back after the 2008 election. In the post GE-13 scenario he would need PR’s 89 members, plus 35 other supporters to enable him to win a vote of no confidence on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat or lower house. Ku Li is probably seen as the only figure left in the parliament who could not only unite UMNO, but a government, and even the country as a whole.

The political leaders in Sabah are known for their fickleness, which was blamed for Anwar’s blotched September 16 defection back in 2008. From the UMNO side, one of the biggest unknowns is the new voting system within UMNO for the direct election of party resident this year. Nobody really knows what the majority of UMNO members really want. However there are many people inside of UMNO who might welcome Ku Li as a chance to break away from the current mold and allow the party to progress.

Things start to get much more complex from the Pakatan Rakyat side. The spiritual leader of PAS Nik Aziz has been against negotiations with UMNO, but now after standing down as the Chief Minister of Kelantan, his continued influence within the party is unknown. There are those within PAS who see negotiations with UMNO as a good thing for Malay and Muslim unity.

The DAP have gone so far without compromise and stalwarts within the party would likely oppose any such moves. But then many also said that the DAP would not last long within PR. The DAP has surprisingly lasted, even with the unfriendly rhetoric that arises from time to time from its coalition partners.

Ironically, it may be two archrivals Anwar Ibrahim and Dr. Mahathir who might be the big spoilers of any such moves towards any form of national unity government. Many close to Anwar Ibrahim often comment about his strong personal drive and determination to become PM, and a national unity government may exclude him of that chance. Consequently he may not allow PKR to become involved in any discussion or participate in any government. However those within PKR who believe that the party is more than a vehicle for Anwar to achieve his own political ambitions may be more conducive to the possibility of negotiations, especially given the fact that many PKR members are in actual fact ex-UMNO members. The serious mooting of a national unity government could develop a crisis within PKR between those who are opposed and those who want to explore the possibility.

From Tun Mahathir’s perspective, he is rebuilding influence within the party and any national unity government would threaten this. Any national unity government would take Malaysian politics to a new era where he may become excluded.

Malaysia’s political future must have UMNO within its calculations. UMNO has strong enough support by those who belief in its heritage, the party cannot be ignored. For those who see politics as the art of the pragmatic and possible, power sharing may be the avenue to change that so many Malaysians desire.

However, besides the spoilers, self interest is likely to get in the way of any real breakthrough with people fearful of losing positions and influence. Developing a new model of government without the embedded corruption that has gone on, may be too difficult a task, as those involved will need to cover up their deeds.

It is difficult to see how this issue could ever be resolved without giving immunity of prosecution, something people may not be willing to agree on.

“…the political leaders we now have are not honourable men. They are not men upon whom we can stake our future and the future of our country.They are not men who will do what we need most for our country – to restore political accountability and social justice.”-CT Ali

Rightly or wrongly too many of us think of wealth as a sign of greatness. And money is the root of all evil – even more so in politics.In as long as that view prevails, our political leaders will have problems of morality because the political leaders we now have are not honourable men.

They are not men upon whom we can stake our future  and the future of our country.They are not men who will do what we need most for our country – to restore political accountability and social justice.

It is one thing to tell a white lie to gain an immediate or temporary political advantage over your opponent and for the most part the public can understand and possibly forgive this transgression.

But we are less likely to forgive a hypocrite. These are leaders who deceived and made deliberate efforts to continue to deceive the public over a lengthy period of time to gain political advantage.

In other words they take the public for a fool. Inevitably when truth prevails and these leaders are exposed for their wrongdoings, the public will react with contempt and disgust and forgiveness will not be possible.

Both Najib Tun Razak and Anwar Ibrahim have done this many times in their political life and the public has had enough of their duplicity.If we cannot believe in the honesty of our leaders than how can we allow them to lead us?

The turmoil our country is now in is because our people do not see the leaders that they want in either Najib or Anwar. Their political past reeks of duplicity, deceit and a denial to do what they themselves have promised their electorates they will do – good governance, openness and accountability while in public office.

The political realities after the 13th general election promises nothing more than continued turmoil that has allowed the Opposition to question the legitimacy of the electoral process.

The Opposition has chosen to do this not in a measured and structured manner. It has chosen instead to take its grievances to the people via its rallies on the premise that public opinion is the highest court in the land.And so the stage is set for the massive June 22 rally.

The self-serving belief

As far as I am concerned, Najib and Anwar can play at their selfish games but do it in their own time. Our country, our people, our future must take precedence before their personal mind games. For every action that they now take, they must ask themselves what their motives are.

The people are counting on the two of them to ensure that they are able to take care of their family, the community and country’s needs and will hold them accountable for their sins of commission and omission.

Unfortunately our leaders lost their moral compasses many years ago. They have not made enough effort to develop their moral and ethical compass to face True North! True North requires them to see themselves not as heroes but as servants of the people they lead.

For Najib and Anwar, power and prestige are the obvious attractions and yet they fool themselves into believing that they are serving something bigger than themselves – the people, King and country – not forgetting religion. And they have the audacity to believe that the people, King and country cannot do without them.

This self-serving belief drives them to keep going no matter what, and this will eventually lead to them breaching ethical and moral standards by which they have once held themselves accountable to.

The highs and the peaks of holding political power intoxicate them and they lose touch with reality – and the people around them learn not to confront them with reality.

In the lead up to the 13th general election, Anwar had convinced himself that he will win the general election. When he lost he could not accept the reality and so he continues to seek ways and means to secure that elusive win.

It is time Anwar confronted the fact that he has lost the election – however painful the reality is – before everything gets out of balance, and he will lose not only the respect of the Malaysian public but also his position within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition as its leader.

Where is Najib now taking us and our country to? It cannot be denied that there has been many irregularities and fraud in the election process, aided and abated by a compliant Election Commission.

The question now is this – if Najib and BN are already involved in these fraudulent activities to win the election, how will they now conduct themselves when in government? Can we trust them?

If a pact existed between Najib and Anwar – brokered by the former Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla to accept the results of the election whichever way it went – then our question has to be “why was a pact needed in the first place?” And why was this pact not made known to the public?

The long goodbye

All this and more boils down to moral leadership or the lack of it.You cannot abandon all those promises of open, accountable and good governance that you have both previously elevated to lofty prominence simply because it is no longer convenient for you to do so.

What separates good men, good leaders are the morals by which they live their life. Hubris and isolation from the real world is no excuse.

For Najib and Anwar, the long goodbye has started. Najib will have another five years to make good the promises he made to the people of Malaysia to gain him that five years. Anwar has the task of seeing that Najib does make good those promises. But more critical, Anwar has to make ready the next echelon of Pakatan leaders who will once again give the people of Malaysia a viable alternative.

Although a national unity government has so much to give Malaysia, and so many people view this as a real hope for the future, there are too many forces against this reality. Had a hung parliament resulted from the may 5th election, a national unity government led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah may have been a real possibility, but the reality today may be that any potential national unity government is only a fairytale, albeit one shared by many.Media tries and judges….and is also the arbiter of probity and righteousness….Have you noticed this other thing that has been happening in our media space recently? That whoever takes media’s side is painted in virtuosity, and against, in dark colors of immorality. I suspect media does this with an agenda. To pull in more support … Read more

Najib will have to use all available ways to fight Mahathir. In the coming weeks and months to the UMNO internal election, Malaysians can expect ‘movie’ after ‘movie’, ‘drama’ after ‘drama’ although most of these will tend to be either disaster flicks or outrageous comedies.

After all Mahathir has so many ways and resources at his disposal. And he is so experienced in this type of guerilla warfare. Not to mention, former sidekick Daim Zainuddin is never to far away to offer diabolical schemes and plots if the need really arises to evict the Najibs from Putrajaya.

Muhyiddin accused  Dr Mahathir Mohamad of betrayal teaming with Najib, Mahathir does not understand the functionality of democracy because he’s an autocrat.  know better than him. What a hypocrite! you created a situation in which the old allies walked away. An alliance does not run under compulsion  we in UMNO can’t reconcile with the Najib  leadership.It has taken about a quarter century for a generational challenge within oppposion to rise from simmer to surge. The they became a credible force in 1989, to fashion a stable alliance. But questions inevitably arise during the forlorn years of defeat, when fusion unravels into confusion.some exaggerated problem he has found with something trivial, the only solution is to give the sulking person some emotional balm and make indulgent soothing sounds of ingratiation.  Mahathir’s sulk was nothing but an invitation to be put to be put to pasture in an appropriately respectful way- the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award or the position of a Chairman Emeritus, connoting ritual significance but emphatically denying importance.

Former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad has backed calls for the posts of president and deputy president to remain uncontested during the party polls to be held later this year.Plan to kill off Muhyiddin.Mahathir should just go straight to the point that one more term for Najib is to give your son Mukhriz another 5 years to move up to be Dep,President of UMNO and Dep.Prime Minister.  , Mahathir’s son Mukhriz – the newly-minted Kedah Mentri Besar – has said he will back Najib to remain as PM and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin to stay as DPM. But remember, nothing is cast in stone and Mahathir is the master of last-minute sleights of hand!Why didnt you give that opportunity to Badawi when he performed better during the 12th GE as compared to Najib in the 13th GE.Another reason is that PM Najib obeyed your every wish, appointed Mukhriz as Mentri Besar,Kedah and also having the 2 Perkasa kataks to stand as MP but were soundly defeated.Dont try to fool urban and sub-urban Malays, they can smell your every evil move miles away. everyone becomes aware that there is no unity in UMNO.Why the fear and why no confidence of winning? It is also now clear that you dont have to be smart to be a leader in UMNO.You just dont allow people the choice to vote. What democracy!

The dark night between the sunset of a government and the dawn of a new election is a good time for rumination,Muhyiddin has suddenly discovered that finance minister Najib and Rosmah has been “squeezing the poor” and that “elements supporting laissez faire theory”

It is interesting that the tantrum is such a common part of our political landscape. One would think that an act that reeks of immaturity and emotional neediness would have little place in the very adult world of politics, but that is far being true in India. The fact that so many politicians throw tantrums underlines the fact there is a market for these, in that at some level we accept the legitimacy of the expectation that drives such behaviour. The idea that adults retain a healthy dollop of childishness within them is implicitly understood and accepted.

Najib can also seek the help of some ’bomohs‘ (spell casters) as he was previously reported to have done to secure the PM’s post. Rosmah too is watching like a hawk. After all she stands to lose all the status, the kow-towing, the glamor, the charging of expenses to the PM’s Office, as well as spending public cash if Najib is ousted.

How do you feel when someone keeps breathing down your neck, nagging, criticizing and meddling with your work right from the day you start work?

Well, if you want to know, ’tanya Najib’. Yes, ask Prime Minister Najib Razak because that must be how he is feeling all this while. And worse still, the person doing the heavy breathing is not Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu or wife Rosmah Mansor but Mahathir Mohamad!

Yes, Mahathir or Dr M the former prime minister – hard as nails and some say ruthlessness personified – who defeated all other pretenders to his throne including Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh and Anwar Ibrahim. Dr M also removed Abdullah Badawi from power even though he had handpicked Badawi to succeed him. And this was how Najib came to power – given the green light from Mahathir to replace Badawi..

Yes, the old man was that powerful. Remember Tun Salleh Abas who was unceremoniously sacked as Chief Judge. Even the Malay Rulers lost their immunity against prosecution! It was then that dazzled by his own power, Mahathir began ruling the country like his own property, arbitrarily helping his sons and cronies to amass wealth beyond imagination.

By comparison Najib, and for that matter Badawi too, have not been able to match the mega structures built by Mahathir, such as the still half-full office blocks at the Petronas Twin Towers, the money-swallowing F1 Circuit, the far from perfect Putrajaya and the ever rising tolls for using our highways.

Up till now, Najib has failed to eke out any real or lasting transformation programs despite having the gall and vanity to encourage the people to call him Bapa Transformasi or the Father of Transformation!

However, in gravy train department, neither Najib nor Badawi have been slouches. While they may not be able to drive the gravy train as well Mahathir and his sons, they too have supped and feasted well on the largesse that comes with near absolute power.

So will Najib be ousted? And who will replace him? Will it be Razaleigh but does he really have enough support to win a no-confidence vote against Najib when Parliament convenes later this month? At this point in time, there is more doubt than confidence that the Kelantan prince will finally get to achieve his dream of becoming PM.

“Ku Li will need Mahathir’s support, that’s for sure. But will Mahathir forgive and forget so easily? We think it is not impossible but only if Najib makes a wrong move and gets Mahathir all uptight and worried. Two desperate men, and I mean Ku Li and Dr M, can easily defeat Najib but how desperate is Dr M to form an alliance with Ku Li,” a political source told Malaysia Chronicle.

Or will Najib’s replacement be Muhyiddin? Yes, Muhyiddin lacks charisma but a lot of those who have worked with him says he is capable of reasonable output. With Home Minister Zahid Hamidi roped in to provide the charm (Umno-style anyway), Muhyiddin cannot be written off. But a dark horse, he will remain.

So, by and large, these are the players. As the drama staged by the Najib camp unfolds and is countered and feinted by his rivals, Malaysians can look forward to a lot of laughs in the weeks ahead. Intrigue is set to bust the UMNO ceiling!

The dividing line between a show of strength and an admission of irrelevance is a thin one. Sometimes a gesture speaks much louder than any substantive action. The transparent excuse used by Najib in this case points to his unwillingness to really rock the boat as well as his inability to compel compliance to his desires. Trapped in a reality he can neither accept nor change, his gesture is one of empty petulance and  signals the end of an era. When the  past becomes clingy and burdensome, it becomes much easier to shrug  off. This might be that moment for the  UMNO. As to what its future is under NAJIB-ROSMAH, is another question altogether.Media tries and judges….and is also the arbiter of probity and righteousness….Have you noticed this other thing that has been happening in our media space recently? That whoever takes media’s side is painted in virtuosity, and against, in dark colors of immorality. I suspect media does this with an agenda. To pull in more support … Read more

These protests reflect, in part, the deep ideological polarization between secular, liberal-minded Turks, and the more religious Turks, representing a quarter and two-thirds of the population respectively based on the 2011 general election results.

Many secular Turks complainthat the Islamist-rooted government is intolerant of criticism and the diversity of lifestyles. So far, Erdogan’s robust and muscular stance vis-à-vis the demonstrators has reinforced those perceptions.

A typical example cited by detractors is the government’s recent enactment of tight restrictions on the sale and promotion of alcohol even though the Turkish government’s Household Budget Surveys estimates that only 6 percent of Turkish households are alcohol drinkers. Less than 1.5 percent of car accidents in 2012 were alcohol-related according to Turkish economist Emre Deliveli .

When it comes to abuse of power by enforcement agencies, says Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, what is important is “stern action” and not which agency is taking it.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor said on Sunday that the party supreme council had already decided that both the president and deputy president posts would not be contested in the party elections.

The biggest crisis in the UMNO is its leadership where members cannot take a political decision And the signs are already there. A whole bunch of leaders excused themselves out during the party supreme council meeting.  was      Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor  heckled outside by Muhuyidin supporters (or were there paid for by his PR agency??? Such things are known to be done by PR firms). Mahathir quit from party but the party managed to bring him back. But just see what’s happened in UMNO.

This is mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, the 1987 contest split Umno into two and resulted in Umno getting deregistered (followed by the fall of Kelantan in the 1990 general election). Secondly, the President and Deputy President of Umno will become Malaysia’s Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively. Hence Umno would not just be choosing its top two party leaders but the top two leaders of the country as well.

suarakeadilanmalaysia is wondering if this is what  had anticipated when  Dr Mahathir went  ahead with nominating  Najib for   the president post  No doubt this ‘no contest’ ruling can be considered as technically illegal because all party posts should be open for contest. But then Umno’s ‘system’ allows for the party’s supreme council to make rulings that are final and that cannot be challenged in court or overridden by the Registrar of Societies. Therefore democracy can be suspended for the sake of ‘stability’.

UMNO  leadership where members cannot take a political decision appear strange and even undemocratic to the uninitiated. However, Malaysia is full of contradictions and these contradictions have been accepted as necessary for the sake of ‘peace and stability’. I mean, while the Federal Constitution says that there is freedom of assembly, the police can still arrest you for organising and attending an ‘illegal assembly’. And while the Constitution says you cannot be detained without being informed of your crime and that you must be brought before a magistrate or released within 24 hours, you can still be detained without trial and without legal representation for an indefinite period of time.The advantage of having a pre-ordained leader is that there are no internal skirmishes or bickerings related to that. It settles issues of hierarchy within the party – after all, there can be only one top-dog, so many more leaders can be “accommodated”. On the other hand, the leadership issue in  UMNO was always known to be a problem; only its play-out has been far worse than anticipated.

Targeting  Mahathir and Najib for practising dynastic politics,alleged that Najib running UMNO like a ‘corporate company’ where a board of directors take the decisions and leave it to a CEO to implement the same on the country. He said that the biggest crisis in UMNO is its leadership. When a journalist asked a question on Najib, his relations withUMNO members, the Prime Minister said the decision will be taken by the high-command. The Prime Minister cannot take a political decision. He just implements orders

If the  UMNO represents dynastic culture, Mahathiri has started being equaled with a highly personalized, almost cult-like and dictatorial way of functioning. Clearly, there are the chosen favorites ofMahathiri, and his efforts have been to increase the club of such followers. Those who are not overtly supporting Najib, or are expressing a divergent point of view, become part of the “opposite” camp, to be cut to size in due course of time. It’s now emerging that this style of leadership has been around for some time. People are asking who the number 2 in UMNO  unit is, and hardly any names come to mind

Giving his word of advice to UMNO workers for the upcoming UMNO elections , that the debate of dynastic democracy” has to be taken to the people. Najib come from a great political family? He worked as a party activist for decades with the people to acquire the status that he has today. Look at our leaders everywhere and ask who amongst them came from a political dynasty? Only those leaders who have proved their mettle will be recognized. Credibility is needed to win elections. And no one can raise a finger at Najib to allege corruption,”We cannot control the evil tongues of others; but a good life enables us to disregard them.

A seniorMalaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)   official was recently heard complaining about the defensive mode his superior have got into while dealing with Najib-related cases. The central investigating agency, which has not yet completely recovered , has become over-cautious, thanks to the frightening possibility Najib keeping his prime minister post.

Earlier this month, Najibi’s close aide Rosmah had warned Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)  for carrying out political agenda while investigating the Mongolian woman. “Regimes are not immortal. I do hope one day a commission of inquiry will investigate the functioning of the,  Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) its politicization and all these above cases,” he had written.

Obviously, theMACC officials, who have a long career in front of them, are scared of becoming pro-active in cases which could implicate  Najib. They are well aware of the victimization of  MACC officers who withstood government pressureand refused to toe the political line.

home ministry and is said to be the man who is coordinating the legal cases which could land  Najib in further trouble.  is not able to make much headway because of the reluctance of officials working in investigating agencies.

Sources said the main reason why Mahathir was in such a tearing hurry to be declared  Najib candidate was to insulate himself against such attacks. MACC officials are now wary of proceeding ahead with leads in the multiple scandal cases.

The public must by now be feeling so blasé from the endless rounds of the weird masquerading as the normal in the government of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak that the latest argument that his administration is deeper into weirdo land recalls the humourist who thought he had hit bottom and then heard someone tapping from underneath.

A scandal-sodden public can reasonably be expected to be groggy about the fact that the month and the year when a supposedly transformative PM compounded his cabinet of illicit personnel was exactly 25 years on from the trigger for all subsequent mutilations to what is regarded as the due process of constitutional governance.

This was the impeachment of then-Lord President Salleh Abas, an act of such monstrosity and cascading ill-effects that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s attempt, on his prime ministerial watch (2003-09), to mitigate its virulence by offering sops to the wounded and the maimed among the affected justices is rather like Japan’s effort to come to terms with the victims, comfort women and Death Railway inductees, of its imperial past – measly and inadequate.

“Our parents sowed dragon’s teeth, our children know and reap the armed men,” goes a saying of uncertain patrimony but singular pertinence to our current predicament.

A Prime Minister, whom we have good reason to believe is a suspected felon in the cover-up of a murder case no less, is heading a government placed in power on minority say-so, and is now in charge of a cabinet composed of some people who have about as much right to be there as some dubiously obtained MyKad holders had in being on GE13′s electoral register.

The question at this stage is: Can things get any worse and if they do, will we see the removal of the coalition that has been in charge of this country since independence in 1957? Things can and will get worse. This we can predict from what has already happened and will continue to happen.

After years of keeping at the rear of change rather than in advance of it, UMNO and parts of BN find themselves – a month after a general election that has confirmed that the political dogmas of the past are inadequate to a transitional present – running on the spot.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, in remarks made after their initially tentative conclusions about the import of the results of GE13 had mutated to firmer findings, intimated that BN and UMNO must change to stay relevant.

Muhyiddin, in particular, went a little further by suggesting a study of the possibility that a single party BN would be the way to proceed in contrast to persisting with the presently multi-component structure that has been in power since 1974 and, before that, holding the reins of government since independence through its precursor, Alliance.

Presumably, Muhyiddin was reacting to the phenomena of Malay voters in urban and semi-rural seats marking the ballot for DAP and Chinese all over the country ticking the box for PAS.

This factor was behind the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat’s gains in Selangor where BN had mounted an intense but ultimately fruitless campaign to recover the richest state in the country.

Possibly chastened by this phenomenon, Muhyiddin, hitherto assertive about the immutability of his Malay-ness and its lofty position in the UMNO-nurtured racial pecking order of the country, gave vent to an idea that many in UMNO would like to be amnesic about: his suggestion that BN could become a single party conglomerate was essentially a variation on a theme aired as early as 1951 by UMNO’s founder, Onn Jaafar.

Onn had to leave UMNO, chagrined by its resistance to an idea whose time had not then come but whose point could only be deferred, not interred. Six decades later, Muhyiddin, a scion of Johor UMNO where the party was birthed, has re-floated what a seer-like Onn had first proposed.

A stillborn idea

However, the reactions from within UMNO or from within its extra-territorial fold, PERKASA, to Muhyiddin’s idea confirmed what the British historian John Macauley, master of many intricate partisan maneuvers in his historical research, observed to be true about political parties.

Macauley said that it is in the nature of political parties to retain their original enmities far more firmly than their original principles. Talk of retention of original enmities, shortly after Muhyiddin spoke about a single BN party, PERKASA was on record as warning of grave consequences to those who “erase” UMNO.

The responses of other elements in the UMNO quarter were less dire though no less inhospitable.

UMNO Information Chief Ahmad Maslan said that conservative UMNO Malays would not countenance the idea of a unified BN party; Vice-President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi speculated that the idea arose from the desperation felt by BN component parties which had been annihilated at the recent polls; and UMNO eminence grise Dr Mahathir Mohamad observed that the idea’s time had not yet arrived.

In effect, the reactionaries were saying that what the average voter in the economically leading state of the country was signaling about his political preferences was not what the common UMNO member was inclined to go with.

Sure, less economically endowed Malays in the rural parts of the country had voted for UMNO, a decision prompted in part, in states like Kedah, by the incompetence of the former Menteri Besar from PAS, Azizan Abdul Razak, and abetted by the BRIM (1Malaysia cash handouts) payments they received that required of them a reciprocal obligation to vote the hand that fed them.

But this category of voter is not a demographic that is set to stay for long. If anything, it will recede as rural-to-urban migration accelerates, as people age, and as the threat of mounting insolvency incurred by profligate BN governance becomes palpable.

In short, UMNO and BN are riding a waning wave of voter preference but its leadership ranks are infested with people who cannot distinguish between their specific career interests and the long-term interests of the coalition of which their party is a dominant part.

Mired in fevered swamps

Too long in thrall to the dogmas of a race-centred worldview, large swatches of Umno and several components of the BN are mired in its fevered swamps, unable to disenthrall and thus renew their party.

Even the defeat at the polls to politicians like PERKASA firebrand Ibrahim Ali, who lost his Pasir Mas parliamentary seat in Kelantan, and to Zulkifli Noordin (right), the religious bigot and agitator, who was dumped with ease in the Shah Alam federal seat, is apparently not sufficient to convince Umno that the party, as presently constituted and led, is on sliding scale on the voter-preference graph.

Too long a stay in power – this more than a half-century UMNO-BN one aided by a rural voter-weightage that’s gone off the rails, and abetted by the machinations of an Election Commission that’s an adjunct of the government – leaves the anointed with the feeling that come what may, they are ordained to stay.

If it’s true that without vision, people perish, as the French philosopher Blaise Pascal held, then it must also be true that without reform and renewal, sclerotic political parties diminish and die. It’s just that some may mistake merely running on the spot as an adequate substitute for R & R.

In the latest example of political sycophancy of najib this man was that powerful. Remember Tun Salleh Abas who was unceremoniously sacked as Chief Judge. Even the Malay Rulers lost their immunity against prosecution! It was then that dazzled by his own power, Mahathir began ruling the country like his own property, arbitrarily helping his sons and cronies to amass wealth beyond imagination.one question continues to be asked: Why isn’t corruption going away? The question baffles the educated middle classes. Why is a reasonable, universal and noble demand for an honest society so difficult to achieve in a democracy? Najib went to the polls  during the double whammy of scams and abuse of power  In most parts of the civilised world, such scams at election time would render the Najib untouchable. And yet, tNajib won.Frustrated, the educated middle class Malay comes up with elitist theories like “60% ofMalay are stupid” or “most voters are dumb”. None of this is true. Malay voter is rational. However,Najib is rational within his own framework. It is important to grasp the demographics and social context of Malay voters.

The old socialist solution for race oppression was affirmative action, through reservations and subsidies .certainly helped in providing education and status. But affirmative action is no more than a starting point. the time has passed forMalays to be just job seekers

Volunteering, philanthropy and adopting causes are passé. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seems to be the latest buzzword in the development sector, as was evident Whether CSR would help leverage true development in the country in the years to come, or merely become another audit book for UMNO to tick off, only time will tell.A pipedream? No, it’s a real possibility, despite risks. Corporate Social Responsibility norms mean is promises strident growth for  Malay businesses. still cannot take off, hopefully many will become big businesses without crutches. Malays have already achieved  presence in the civil services and professions. They must now do so in business too. Malay have become prime ministers and chief ministerss . Why not captains of industry too?The US once focused on affirmative action for blacks. But in the last two decades thousands of black millionaires — and some billionaires — have risen from lowly origins. Some have become CEOs of the biggest global companies — Citibank (Richard Parsons), American Express (Kenneth Chenault), Xerox (Ursula Burns), Mc-Donald’s (Don Thompson), and Merck (Kenneth Frazier). That should be an inspiration for all Malays.

This is what Najib is banking on. His strategists and media are playing it to hilt- from trying to win him sympathy and making him appear the ‘good guy’ to Mahathir’s ‘bad guy’, they are going for broke.at one level everybody wants to remove corruption. Every Malaywould like a clean society. However, not every Malay feels it is the number one priority. For a lot of Malay, corruption doesn`t determine their voting behaviour. Removing corruption is important to them. However, it is not as important as, say, one or more of these three motives: a) asserting themselves and their identity, b) feeling safe in society, c) obtaining some instant gratification from politicians at voting time.

But how strong are Najib’s chances of retaining the UMNO presidency and premiership? With Mahathir’s help – which would mean Najib and the rest of the country would have to endure the old’s man bullying and bitching for another 5 years till the next GE – it is certain he will be able to maintain his positions.

The question is – what about without Mahathir? Can Najib take on other Umno rivals who are supported by Mahathir from behind the scenes for whatever Machiavellian reasons that Mahathir has? Chances are that in such an event, Najib would have to retire real early.

Could this be why Najib’s camp bizarrely leaked false news that he was to meet with Anwar in Jakarta? Was Najib trying to tell Mahathir, ‘hey, if you want fo fight, OK I too have a smoking gun!’ Or was Najib merely trying to play ‘good guy’ to Mahathir’s ‘bad guy’? When one considers the enormity of the implications, which would involve a unity government, chances are higher Najib was trying to tell Mahathir he can also play hard ball.

Then what’s next? Face it, for those who hope for national reconciliation, it definitely won’t come from Najib who can be expected to want the same unquestioned power that Mahathir wielded.

Anwar was just a means to an end. In any case, given Anwar’s mega popularity, he is too risky a rival for Najib to strike a deal with. Already, Anwar has won himself the tag of being the ‘People’s Prime Minister’ – something that Najib cannot be too happy about!

The minority-polled BN-led government head, Honorable Prime Minister Najib is in need of some serious coaching on the meaning of ‘perception’. Unfortunately, all the money spent on his foreign consulting outfit, APCO, hasonly landed him with yet another wrong ‘perception’ of the 51% of Malaysian’s perception.

The fact that he lambasted Malaysians in Indonesia for their flawed perception that foreign nationals voted in the nation’s GE-13 deserves a free lesson.

To begin with, ‘perception’ cannot be deemed as ‘deception’. On the contrary, perception is all about discernment, insight and wisdom.

Gestalt psychology informs that perception results from human ability or inclination or ordained nature to identify patterns. It is influenced by expectations, needs, unconscious ideas, values and conflicts.

So Honorable Prime Minister of minority votes-polled government, if your BN has lost the on-line media “war” – as you have claimed, it is not because the majority 51% of voters have fallen victim to deception from the opposition PR faction. They the discerning rakyat had made an assessment of the many untruths, un-forthcoming answers and unending attacks on the rakyat.

They the 51% of the voting population had needs and expectations that were ignored despite repeated pleas to your office. The call for dialogue on free and fair elections is just one such example. The post-GE 13 concerns over highly questionable realities was another.

The need to answer and find the many missing puzzles to the world-unprecedented murder of the Mongolian national is another.

The cases of corruption; the lack of transparency and questionable accountability – all of these and many more examples can also be found on the blog of Zorro-unmasked (June 4, 2013 postings).

The fact that there is a revealing RCI on ICs for foreign nationals by the thousands in Sabah – is that not true?

The 218 custodial deaths since 2000, are these fiction?

What about the role of MACC in so far as the deaths of Teoh Hock Beng and Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed go? Have you seen to speedy justice?

What about the Ministry of Defence paying one sole Malaysian RM500 million – all for securing the purchase of a controversial submarine? And why is a sole individual entrusted with top security purchases that have far reaching implications to national security, King and country?

What about the US$283 billion reported by The Guardian (UK) to have been transferred out of Malaysia to tax havens from 1970 – 2010?

The toll operators have collected RM20 billion and the licensing continues with your political party led government’s protection does it not?

What about past sins like:

The BMF Financial scandal that punctured a RM3.2 billion hole in the rakyat’s wealth of nation.

Maminco scandal to the tune of RM1.6 billion and still no answers.

The forex losses’ scandal of RM 30 billion; the Perwaja Steel scandal of RM 2.56 billion; Bank Islam losses and bailouts at a cost of RM 700 million.

PKFZ scandal winds down despite a RM 12 billion scandal sticking with it; The Sime Darby losses of RM 964 million.

Building a stadium in Terengganu for a tune of RM 292 million and it collapses but who pays for its all?

Auditor’s report also a perception?

In recent times we were laughing at the moo-story or better remembered as ‘Cowgate Malaysia’ costing us a scandalous RM 250 million; and the two-times bailout of our national carrier costing RM 7.9 billion.

And how about the string of strange prices for common things – unless of course if you say the Auditor General is also lying or susceptible to your version of perception, i.e. deception:

>  Mindef paying RM1,146 for a Technical pen that is priced in the marketplace at RM160.

>  Buying a car-jack of RM50 for RM1,664 by the Youth and sports Ministry.

>  Paying RM 2.5 million to pensioners who are all well dead and go

> 150 kg of sugar cost the MARA Training Centre a whooping RM 25,500.

> RM 270 million for advertising by the Tourism Ministry.

> Night binoculars valued at RM1,940 but costing the Marine authorities RM 56,350.

> TNB spending RM 770,000 to supply power to a single house.

There is more in the Zorro-unmasked list of grievous sins by your leadership. You may want to re-vist the blog and not dismiss it as opposition propaganda too.

when the rakyat get nothing but pin drop silence and absolute disregard to all these concerns that the rakyat are well informed of, where would you expect their ‘perception’ to anchor?

Please stop belittling the discernment, insight and wisdom of the 51% of the rakyat – if not all 60% who in all likelihood voted for the opposition. Yes, that’s the perception. But you cannot blame the rakyat. Take a deep long and hard look within your party barracks.

Do not forget that perception is influenced by expectations, needs, values and conflicts. So you did not lose the on-line war. You had to pay the right price in this new age transformation tide for change. And please do not come crying home that the media distorted your message.

Perhaps the 22nd of June 2013 should nail the coffin and send home the true meaning of perception. That again is the general perception of the rakyat – not a deception of the opposition My Honorable Prime Minister.

Umno secretary-general  Datuk Seri Tengku  Adnan Mansor stressed that the top two posts in Umno – president and deputy president – need not be contested in the upcoming party elections as the party follows the principle of a “guided democracy”.
He said this after some party leaders and groups insisted on a leadership contest, despite the supreme council’s recent decision that there will be no contest for the top two posts.The minority-polled BN-led government head, Honorable Prime Minister Najib is in need of some serious coaching on the meaning of ‘perception’. Unfortunately, all the money spent on his foreign consulting outfit, APCO, hasonly landed him with yet another wrong ‘perception’ of the 51% of Malaysian’s perception.To begin with, ‘perception’ cannot be deemed as ‘deception’. On the contrary, perception is all about discernment, insight and wisdom.Gestalt psychology informs that perception results from human ability or inclination or ordained nature to identify patterns. It is influenced by expectations, needs, unconscious ideas, values and conflicts.So Honorable Prime Minister of minority votes-polled government, if your BN has lost the on-line media “war” – as you have claimed, it is not because the majority 51% of voters have fallen victim to deception from the opposition PR faction. They the discerning rakyat had made an assessment of the many untruths, un-forthcoming answers and unending attacks on the rakyat.“What we want to follow is the ‘guided democracy’. As such, there won’t be any contest for the post of president and deputy president. After all, we just had our general elections,” Tengku Adnan told reporters at his office in the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur building today. –

Did former Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim play a role in deciding the outcome of Anwar Ibrahim’s defamation suit against former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the High Court two years ago?

This question was mooted following allegations in an anonymous letter that High Court judicial commissioner Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat had struck out Anwar’s libel suit after meeting Ahmad Fairuz several times before delivering her verdict.

Judges are bound by a strict code of ethics and must be absolutely impartial in their judgments, and not be swayed by pressure from the executive, legislature or by senior members of the judiciary.

If there is even a grain of truth to the allegation, the Malaysian judiciary will be shamed yet again.

Malaysiakini learnt a complaint was made to the Anti-Corruption Agency (now Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) in 2007 soon after Tengku Maimun delivered her verdict on Anwar’s suit against Mahathir.

The letter containing the allegations was sent to ACA and also to the judiciary and the authorities. It claimed that Tengku Maimun had on several occasions discussed the matter with Ahmad Fairuz before she delivered her judgment.

It also alleged that Ahmad Fairuz had told Tengku Maimun “how to decide” in the case.

Anwar filed a libel suit against Mahathir following his stinging comments at a Suhakam press conference over the opposition leader’s alleged sexual conduct.

Tengku Maimun, in striking out Anwar’s suit, ruled that Mahathir’s defence was likely to succeed and there was no need for the matter to be heard in a full trial.

VK Lingam, who was implicated in the infamous video-tape, judge-fixing scandal, was Mahathir’s counsel in the case.

Two weeks ago, the Court of Appeal had dismissed Anwar’s appeal application on a technicality – that Anwar did not file it in Bahasa Malaysia.

Lingam applied to strike out the appeal application before justice Abdul Malik Ishak, who was heading a three-member panel.

Did Lingam write judgment?

Reporters who covered the decision on Anwar’s suit were offered copies of Tengku Maimun’s written judgments by Lingam immediately after the verdict was read out.

This raises the question as to whether the lawyer had played a role in writing the judgment, possibly on behalf of Tengku Maimun.

There was a previously such allegation that Lingam had played a role in writing a judge’s judgment, as was revealed by his former secretary GN Jayanthi at an inquiry into the videotape scandal.

Testifying at the royal commission of inquiry, Jayanthi  said she stayed up until 3am in Lingam’s office to draft a judgment which was to eventually become a landmark decision.

The decision was read out by High Court judge Mokhtar Sidin in Vincent Tan’s libel suit against MGG Pillai.

Jayanthi had said this happened sometime between November and early December 1994, where Lingam was representing Tan, the tycoon of the Berjaya Group.

“I later discovered the judgment written by Lingam was fully incorporated as the official judgment by the said judge,” the former secretary had told in her testimony.

As many may recall, Lingam was alleged to have spoken to Ahmad Fairuz on the other end of the phone in the videotape when the latter was the Chief Judge of Malaya.

Ahmad Fairuz, when testifying at the royal commission, said Lingam’s alleged conversation with him was slanderous and a fabrication.

Former UN rapporteur’s report

Former UN special rapporteur on the independence of the judiciary Param Cumaraswamy, following the anonymous letter, wrote to the ACA in September 2007 to lodge a complaint on the possibility of such improper practises.

Param had his letter also questioned Tengku Maimun’s confirmation as a full fledged judge a month after delivering the judgment.

A copy of Param’s letter and the anonymous letter, which contained several other allegations of impropriety in the judiciary, were made available to Malaysiakini.

Attempts to contact Tengku Maimun, Ahmad Fairuz and the MACC were unsuccessful.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has strongly refuted comments by PKR Wanita head Zuraida Kamaruddin that linked the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu to the premier.

AT IS HAPPENING? NO APPEAL FOR A MURDER CASE AND YET IN RAJA PETRA’S HABEAS CORPUS CASE, THE APPEAL IS MADE VERY QUICKLY. THE MALAYSIAN PUBLIC HAS THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE REASONS FOR THIS APPARENT DISCRIMINATION. MAYBE, RAZAK BAGINDA IS A CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, NAJIB TUN RAZAK, WHEREAS RAJA PETRA IS NAJIB’S STRONGEST CRITIC. IF NOT, WHAT ELSE?  PLEASE, DEPUTY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR TUN MAJID TUN HAMZAH, CAN YOU EXPLAIN? —DIN MERICAN

readmore Suara Keadilan Malaysia blogged Altantuya Najib Scorpene ask Miss Mumbai Scorpene Did you marry the wrong person?

 Najib has never seemed as helplessly weak as now

Hell has more definitions than heaven , possibly because more of us expect to end up there than in the other place. A cynic described hell as other people. Men of religion generally promise hellfire for the wicked, an image that rather contradicts the doctrine that the body is terminal and soul eternal. A soul can’t get roasted in flames, can it?
One much prefers the blind poet Milton’s insight. Heaven is order, he wrote, and hell chaos. By Milton’s standards, the government  of Najib has already gone to hell.Chaos is the wild weed rooted in corruption. Like an untamed cancer, chaos has destabilized the coalition, corroded governance beyond repair and perverted Prime Minister has become either the target of dark outrage or the butt of black humour. The insulation that protected him while colleagues were falling on either side in the many corruption battles, has been ripped off by Mahathir allocation scam. The government has only one strategy for all the riveting scandals that have gutted its credibility: the purchase of time through delay or deception, hope that 2013 will be about corruption and governance looks misplaced. Everyone knows that corruption is a political malaise, not restricted to UMNO. People are realizing The real truth is that 2013 will instead be about alliances. It will not be about magnetic individuals; but about magnetic alliances. It’s here that Mahyidin beats Najib

The stink in the corridor power remains a billion dollar question.UMNO politicians, like politicians the world over, generally agree only to disagree. But on one thing all of them —Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is attempting to keep the divide within Umno under wraps with his call that the top two posts in the party not be contested, said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng. whichever party they belong to and whatever ideology they profess — agree to agree: we, the people, have no right to know where, and from whom, they get the money to fight elections and run their organisations.Getting political parties entangled in such unnecessary things will damage the democratic process. We simply cannot accept it,Najib and Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yasin will win unchallenged will depend on the feedback at Umno divisional meetings and Putrajaya’s success in handling two restive groups: Umno MPs who were not given Cabinet positions and Umno divisional chiefs not fielded as candidates in the general election.

You wouldn’t buy a loaf of bread which insisted on keeping its ingredients secret. So how come we are expected to buy — to vote for — political  leaders who keep their finances a secret? Don’t ask. You don’t have the right to that information.Mahathir is trying to keep the fight between the respective factions in support of either options within Umno’s walls

‘Is Umno a party of dynamic change and renewal, or is it a fossilised party determined to keep incumbents in power for as long as possible?’After the calls for no contest for Umno’s top two posts, it is not surprising that there are similar calls for the Umno Youth chief’s post.Election of leaders is a democratic process of every organisation. To ask members not to contest is nothing more than tyranny, they may as well tell the party grassroots that contest breeds disunity and ask them to let the leaders rule for life.

This is a good move as it protects the posts of Prime Minister Najib Razak, Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

But then someone out there will be very disappointed as he may have laid plans to open the way for  Rosmah’  son to move up the party hierarchy through the Youth post at least.

If their leaders are so good, why are they scared of an election? Unfortunately, Umno leaders don’t have an internal Election Commission (EC) to help them, so they have to resort to ‘no-contest’ to retain power,both Najib and his deputy were not elected to their offices. I think it will do the Umno members a big disservice if they are not allowed to make their choice.

more liberalism and democracy so that you can appeal to the ‘middle ground’. To the rightists in Umno, ‘getting its house in order’ would mean being more Malay-centric and nationalistic so that you can appeal to the rural and nationalist Malays.

Hence we are going to see a battle to decide not only the new Umno leadership but the direction Umno is to take over these next four or five years leading to the 14th General Election. Those who feel that Umno needs to appeal to the middle ground will back Najib. Those who feel that Najib has ‘sold out’ to the non-Malays will oppose him.

It does not matter whether Najib is going to be challenged or not in the party’s general assembly. Pak Lah was not challenged either. Pak Lah was not ousted during the general assembly. He was ousted after that. And that too will be when Najib is going to be ousted if he is ousted — after the general assembly.

And if Najib is ousted that is going to mean only one thing — and that is Umno is moving to the right and the liberals in Umno will no longer have a voice. And that can only bring Malaysia deeper into racial politics at the risk of exploding some time in the future to fulfill Lim Kit Siang’s prophecy of a time bomb ticking away in Malaysia.

Some 145,000 out of Umno’s 3.5 million members will vote directly for all posts in the party elections this year, under new rules enforced to ensure corruption will not skew the results.

The party’s Supreme Council had already agreed last month that there will be no contests for the top two posts but several senior leaders have said contests for all posts would make Umno more democratic,The recent overtures by the Mahathir also point to a re-allignment of political forces; and a concerted Pakatan attempt to break the back of UMNO. This is politics,  Najib style!Najib presents a moderate face – with its concomitant “weak”, “soft”, “undecisive” style notwithstanding – and becomes a natural magnet for all and sundry. The MCA and GERAKAN may have suffered the loss –  but none of them left because of any ideological political reasons it was mostly an economic affairs issue.Political situation is of concern to many of Malaysia’s top echelon of businesspeople, politicians, civil servants, and even members of the Royal Families. There is a strong feeling amongst the country’s elite that Malaysia needs good governance rather than politicking. Many are very sympathetic to the concept of a national unity government, as a solution … Read more

French Scorpene probe extends to Bala’s SD2  PM should also resign for alleged murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. Mahathir said, When a BN minister or member becomes a liability, the BN will use all the “goodies” they have collected to destroy him/her by using the judicial system and other forms of blackmail. Mahatir is the master of this art. Zahidi should resign before being sacked. If he is really involved in the assault case then he should just resign   leaders like zahid are so scarry….holding such important post….but does not show any intellectual talk

Najib is involved in a criminal case! he is still the PM why should i resign?Zahidi, of course only PM can ask you to resign if you do not want to resign yourself out of your dignity. So that is why Rakyat is asking so our “deaf” PM will hear and chaeck and act accordingly. But why do I get the feeling PM is going to play deaf and dumb. Oh now I know he is like that…so Mahatir decides to run this country as proxy PM. Phew, what a complicated country.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has rebuffed calls for him to resign following the civil suit against him for alleged assault.The French judicial inquiry into alleged corruption involving the sale of two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia, has extended to the conflicting statutory declarations of private eye P Balasubramaniam on the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Mahathir said, in a contest, those who lost tend to split. But in a no contest situation, there are those who keep their grudges in their hearts. In the end, they explode, and they also split. Don’t think that by externally forcing a “unity” or so-called “unity” by imposing a no-contest rule, you are assured of unity….it is a false sense of unity, a pseudo-unity. Remember that no one can keep everyone happy. In fact, by imposing a rather didactorial no-contest rule, beware that it can be conterproductive and detrimental to your own party.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during a speech at the Perdana Leadership Foundation CEO Forum 2013 today had sarcastically mentioned about wanting to become Prime Minister once again.

While commenting about the shelving of Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics (PPSMI) as one of the reason that distanced people from enrolling in national schools, he also expressed his wish of seeing it being restored once more.

“That’s why I wanted to become Prime Minister again even just for one minute,” said Tun Mahathir in a cynical manner.

Meanwhile, Tun Mahathir also opined that freedom should be limited, pointing freedom in some other developed countries are not that attractive as collapsed of moral values can be seen.

“For example, too much of unlimited freedom… anybody is free to exercise his rights, but his rights may result to other’s losing their rights,” he said in his speech on Tuesday.

He also expressed a bit of regret for not allowing the censorship of the internet while he was in charge of the Multimedia Super Corridor years ago.

“When I was in charged of the MSC, I was asked by an American lady whether we are going to censor the internet.

“I told her no, we are going to be very free, but now I’m having second thoughts. When we have absolute freedom, we would abuse the freedom,” said Tun Mahathir.

He said Malaysians need to be more sensible in regards of multiracial matters if they want a better Malaysia.

He added that people should tone down a bit the freedom, limit themselves and self regulate.

Tun Mahathir was commenting on the recent abuse of freedom of the Internet when certain individuals have resorted

readmore Suara Keadilan Malaysia blogged Mahathir’s new strategy its UMNO election time the rope around Najib neck, who ordered the murder?

Today’s self-assertive culture is all about stating clearly your desires and wants, and expecting to fulfill them. We have allowed ourselves to imagine we have a right to get whatever we want; this creates a sense of entitlement that makes us selfish and self-centred, blurring needs from wants. It is important to define the tipping point at which a want becomes a need and to understand well the reasons for allowing this walkover. We all wish to cater to our needs, but it is essential that we understand what they are and how important these are to us. Sadly, most of our needs are dictated by someone else. We wish to acquire that bigger mansion, that fancy car or those expensive trinkets all in an attempt to outdo others and prove we are no less than anybody else. What a waste! These are precisely the ‘wants’ that masquerade as ‘needs’.

Alies Anor Abdul: the man who has been tasked with bringing down the Prime Minister Company Background

EWT Transformer Sdn Bhd (formerly known as EPE Wilson Transformer Sdn Bhd ) specializes in the manufacturing, sales and services of Oil Immersed Distribution Transformers, Prefabricated Substations Units and Earthing Transformers.     Background: EWT Transformer Sdn Bhd (formerly known as EPE Wilson Transformer Sdn Bhd) is a joint venture company whose principle shareholders are Malaysia’s Bumiputra Company, Teras Dara Konsortium Sdn Bhd (TDK) and Australia’s Wilson Transformer Company Pty Ltd (WTC). TDK is a Malaysian company specializes in plantation, property and urban services development and management services has diversified its business by acquiring majority shareholders in EWT. WTC is the largest Australian owned company specializes in transformer manufacturing of both Power and Distribution Transformers.   History: EWT has now become one of the preferred suppliers of distribution transformers, compact substations and earthing transformers. With its proven track records, reliability of its products and strong after sales services, EWT business has grown substantially over the 16 years period since its establishment. Since its inception, EWT has secured a significant number of contracts from the utilities especially from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and other private sector customers.   Date Significant Events 14th July 1993 EWT formed a joint venture agreement with WTC 26th August 1993 Incorporated as a manufacturer of Transformer and Compact Substation. 18th November 1994 Received the 1st contract from TNB worth RM17 million – Contract TNB 903/94. 19th December 1995 Official opening ceremony of EWT by Deputy Minister of Finance. 2nd January 1997 Received 1st contract for Earthing Transformer from TNB – Contract TNB 1366/1996. 5th June 1997 Received 1st contract for Compact Substation from TNB – Contract TNB 530/1997. 3rd December 1997 EWT awarded an ISO 9001 : 1994. 9th November 2004 Changed its name to Ranhill Wilson Transformer Sdn Bhd when it became part of the Ranhill Group of Companies. 11th May 2007 EWT awarded certification OHSAS 18001 : 1999. 20th August 2007 Changed its name back to EPE Wilson Transformer Sdn Bhd when it became parts of the TDK Group of Companies. 3rd May 2010 Changed its name to EWT Transformer Sdn Bhd,to reflect EWT as a brand name 25th June 2010 EWT awarded Certification ISO 14001 : 2004   Alies to Najib: If you don’t help me I will help Muhyiddin Cat Out of Bag (23 August 2011) So it seems Datuk Rockybru has dismissed my earlier post about him leading a media onslaught against our Perdana Mentri Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Many in Tan Sri Muhyiddin and the great sepupu PM Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s camp have also claimed that my posts are the work of the opposition. Really? Do you really think these Pakatan guys really have information that I have? Like the information on what Datuk Seri Dr Alies Anor Abdul is up to. Now maybe you will be scrambling to guess who I am. If Tun Daim has an oracle maybe our PM has one too? Please lah stop guessing lah. And stop insulting my intelligence by dismissing it as an opposition tactic to drive a wedge between Najib and Muhyiddin. For once, that Barking Magpie maybe on to something. The split is real. And the traitors are led by the sepupu, businessmen and those funding Datuk Rocky. So to those who still support Najib, watch it when you are in the presence of the sepupu and Rocky. And joining them soon is Datuk Seri Alies Anor Abdul. Who is he? Alies is the chairman of Putra World Trade Centre, the grand Umno HQ. But crucially he has been a long-time servant of Najib and is now one of his closest advisers. But he recently had a major fallout with his boss over the advice to crack down on the Bersih activists. He led the team of advisers who won the day after a late night session with the PM just before the rally. The advice that won the day was for PM to allow his sepupu to crack down on the rally, and to allow Muhyiddin to play the hardline champion. The result as PM realises now is that he has been forced to the right of centre and is no longer able to portray himself as a moderate leader for the country. And the result of Alies falling out with PM is this – he has threatened to work for Muhyiddin. This is also because PM is not supporting his bid for the airport cargo scanner project. Alies has been the man behind the rise of Najib, since the days of the Wawasan team when Najib was part of Anwar Ibrahim’s gang poised to take over from Dr Mahathir. He was Najib’s political secretary between 1999 and 2005, and so the fallout is a very serious matter indeed. But now because of money and power, he wants more and is willing to help Muhyiddin if Najib doesn’t help him. Najib is now being threatened and basically blackmailed by his own adviser. Of course Alies is not the only one. One by one, the sepupu, Rockybru, Alies are all poised to jump ship to Muhyiddin’s side. This may not happen immediately but they have given notice and are looking after their own futures. Remember, the big elections soon may not be the general election. It may well be the next Umno elections.   Alies Anor Abdul: the man who has been tasked with bringing down the Prime Minister     The stink in the corridor power remains a billion dollar question.UMNO politicians, like politicians the world over, generally agree only to disagree. But on one thing all of them —Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is attempting to keep the divide within Umno under wraps with his call that the top two posts in the party not be contested, said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng. whichever party they belong to and whatever ideology they profess — agree to agree: we, the people, have no right to know where, and from whom, they get the money to fight elections and run their organisations.Getting political parties entangled in such unnecessary things will damage the democratic process. We simply cannot accept it,Najib and Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yasin will win unchallenged will depend on the feedback at Umno divisional meetings and Putrajaya’s success in handling two restive groups: Umno MPs who were not given Cabinet positions and Umno divisional chiefs not fielded as candidates in the general election. You wouldn’t buy a loaf of bread which insisted on keeping its ingredients secret. So how come we are expected to buy — to vote for — political  leaders who keep their finances a secret? Don’t ask. You don’t have the right to that information.Mahathir is trying to keep the fight between the respective factions in support of either options within Umno’s walls ‘Is Umno a party of dynamic change and renewal, or is it a fossilised party determined to keep incumbents in power for as long as possible?’After the calls for no contest for Umno’s top two posts, it is not surprising that there are similar calls for the Umno Youth chief’s post.Election of leaders is a democratic process of every organisation. To ask members not to contest is nothing more than tyranny, they may as well tell the party grassroots that contest breeds disunity and ask them to let the leaders rule for life. This is a good move as it protects the posts of Prime Minister Najib Razak, Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. But then someone out there will be very disappointed as he may have laid plans to open the way for  Rosmah’  son to move up the party hierarchy through the Youth post at least. If their leaders are so good, why are they scared of an election? Unfortunately, Umno leaders don’t have an internal Election Commission (EC) to help them, so they have to resort to ‘no-contest’ to retain power,both Najib and his deputy were not elected to their offices. I think it will do the Umno members a big disservice if they are not allowed to make their choice. more liberalism and democracy so that you can appeal to the ‘middle ground’. To the rightists in Umno, ‘getting its house in order’ would mean being more Malay-centric and nationalistic so that you can appeal to the rural and nationalist Malays. Hence we are going to see a battle to decide not only the new Umno leadership but the direction Umno is to take over these next four or five years leading to the 14th General Election. Those who feel that Umno needs to appeal to the middle ground will back Najib. Those who feel that Najib has ‘sold out’ to the non-Malays will oppose him. It does not matter whether Najib is going to be challenged or not in the party’s general assembly. Pak Lah was not challenged either. Pak Lah was not ousted during the general assembly. He was ousted after that. And that too will be when Najib is going to be ousted if he is ousted — after the general assembly. And if Najib is ousted that is going to mean only one thing — and that is Umno is moving to the right and the liberals in Umno will no longer have a voice. And that can only bring Malaysia deeper into racial politics at the risk of exploding some time in the future to fulfill Lim Kit Siang’s prophecy of a time bomb ticking away in Malaysia. Some 145,000 out of Umno’s 3.5 million members will vote directly for all posts in the party elections this year, under new rules enforced to ensure corruption will not skew the results. The party’s Supreme Council had already agreed last month that there will be no contests for the top two posts but several senior leaders have said contests for all posts would make Umno more democratic,The recent overtures by the Mahathir also point to a re-allignment of political forces; and a concerted Pakatan attempt to break the back of UMNO. This is politics,  Najib style!Najib presents a moderate face – with its concomitant “weak”, “soft”, “undecisive” style notwithstanding – and becomes a natural magnet for all and sundry. The MCA and GERAKAN may have suffered the loss –  but none of them left because of any ideological political reasons it was mostly an economic affairs issue.Political situation is of concern to many of Malaysia’s top echelon of businesspeople, politicians, civil servants, and even members of the Royal Families. There is a strong feeling amongst the country’s elite that Malaysia needs good governance rather than politicking. Many are very sympathetic to the concept of a national unity government, as a solution … Read more related articles NAJIB-MAHATHIR ERA IN UMNO IS OVER, MUHYIDDIN WILL MISS THE BEST CHANCE TO UNSEAT NAJIB Najib will have to use all available ways to fight Mahathir. In the coming weeks and months to the UMNO internal election, Malaysians can expect ‘movie’ after ‘movie’, ‘drama’ after ‘drama’ although most of these will tend to be either disaster flicks or outrageous comedies. After all Mahathir has so many ways and resources at … Read more TENGKU ADNAN MANSOR“GUIDED JUDICIARY,DEMOCRACY AND POLICE INVESTIGATION”. IS THE UMNO WAY DAP challenges Tengku Adnan’s credibility DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has questioned the appointment of Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s cabinet, since Tengku Adnan has been involved in the “Lingam-gate” affair. Umno secretary-general  Datuk Seri Tengku  Adnan Mansor stressed that the top two posts in Umno …Read more ZAHID: PM SHOULD ALSO RESIGN FOR ALLEGED MURDER OF MONGOLIAN NATIONAL ALTANTUYA SHAARIIBUU. French Scorpene probe extends to Bala’s SD2  PM should also resign for alleged murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. Mahathir said, When a BN minister or member becomes a liability, the BN will use all the “goodies” they have collected to destroy him/her by using the judicial system and other forms of blackmail. Mahatir is the master of … Read more WHEN UMNO TURNS INTO HELL A STORY REWRITTEN BY DR M Najib has never seemed as helplessly weak as now Hell has more definitions than heaven , possibly because more of us expect to end up there than in the other place. A cynic described hell as other people. Men of religion generally promise hellfire for the wicked, an image that rather contradicts the doctrine that … Read more IF MAHATHIR ASKS ME TO PICK UP A BROOM AND SWEEP, I WILL DO IT SAID NAJIB In the latest example of political sycophancy of najib this man was that powerful. Remember Tun Salleh Abas who was unceremoniously sacked as Chief Judge. Even the Malay Rulers lost their immunity against prosecution! It was then that dazzled by his own power, Mahathir began ruling the country like his own property, arbitrarily helping his sons … Read more

This is the time for party members to debate and discuss extensively the direction UMNO should take. It is in this context that I am advocating a leadership contest. You cannot rejuvenate the party and inspire the confidence of young voters unless the leaders articulate more progressive policies and showcase the talents they have in order to assume the country’s leadership. Najib and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have different approaches to leadership and it would be enlightening to see where they are different, both in terms of their ideology and management style. More importantly, such a contest would allow a party that is clearly going south to take stock of itself and make some big decisions. Which leader is better equipped to tackle the mother of all scourges, corruption? This is one of many worthwhile element of the new Malay Agenda that is now worth pursuing.

Umno, the county’s largest political party, is due to hold its party elections soon. Najib who performed poorly in the recently-concluded 13th general election, winning only 133 of Parliament’s 222 seats – even worse than his predecessor Abdullah Badawi’s 140 seats – is expected to face challenges from veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the Gua Musang MP, and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.Najib actually hasn’t given the media an opportunity to quiz him on the subject. And he probably would not agree to the next interview, unless the interviewer agrees not to ask unwanted questions and go off the record wherever he does not want to go public. It is hard to remember when he faced his last interview. Perhaps there has been none afterToday’s self-assertive culture is all about stating clearly your desires and wants, and expecting to fulfill them. We have allowed ourselves to imagine we have a right to get whatever we want; this creates a sense of entitlement that makes us selfish and self-centred, blurring needs from wants. It is important to define the tipping … Read more

So far, several party bigwigs and a few divisions have called for zero contests for the top 2 posts. However, the race is still open and few would exclude the possibility of a revolt among the Umno ranks for a change in president.

“If Najib was feeling secure about his post, there won’t be this need to have the divisions and Mahathir to openly call for no contests. With Mahathir’s backing, Najib does look set to retain the presidency. But it is way too early to jump to conclusions and there are opportunities still for Mahathir to U-turn on his backing. If I were Najib, I wouldn’t relax at all,

The article was posted on the website  before Mahathir visited Najib and had a 45-minute closed door one-on-one meeting with him. Hitting out at , thoughtlessly weakened” Najibi’s position  in the wake of a “manufactured controversy”He warns that the “decay that has begun in the UMNO will most “certainly accelerate if Muhyuddin is further humiliated and forced either to retire or to rebel”.Uppermost in the UMNO vocabulary is the expression of the Malay Agenda, a potpourri of rights and entitlements that the party claims is fundamental for the Malays. This will be the main thrust of the party leaders’ speeches during the upcoming UMNO General Assembly. With the results of GE13 and the Chinese and Indian communities’ rejection of UMNO/the Barisan Nasional, it’s natural to expect that everyone will have a wild time bashing the Chinese. Some nutty ones will ask for the Treason Act to be enacted—they will want the Chinese to be sent back to China and Islam and the Malay Rulers to be strengthened. These are the kind of steps the unthinking Malays in UMNO will be clamouring for, but all that will lead to is yet another show of misplaced anger and another round of wasted time. If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim described as “undemocratic” the call by some Umno bigwigs including former premier Mahathir Mohamad not to challenge Prime Minister Najib Razak for the position of party president.

By convention, the Umno president becomes the prime minister of Malaysia as Umno is the largest party controlling 88 of the Barisan Nasional’s 133 parlimentary seats.‘No contests’ for top 2 posts a means to bar Muhyiddin from challenging Najib

Mahathir as an “autocrat” who c If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam” (whatever that means) will not solve these problems.ares “two hoots” for UMNO virtually his alter ego, has also called Rosmah  ”foxy”. He has said the Najib  has “astrologically-induced delusions” of becoming the PM for a secound term.”An autocrat Najib is sought to be enthroned, and a perfect democrat Muhyudini being marginalized and humiliated.. Mahathir. “…A self-centered leader who has shown that he cares two hoots for the party organization hisson in his own state has suddenly become all powerful, whereas a selfless leader who toiled for many decades to build the party brick by brick is being cast aside as a useless relic. the Malay Agenda has to be introspective. UMNO can continue to take the easy way out and just blame the Chinese, the ungrateful Malays and everyone else, but one of the most cited reasons why people are not supporting the party is the corruption of its leaders. Corruption denotes a system where those with money are able to overcome any policy or rule because the leaders are corruptible. So UMNO can shout “Hidup Melayu” loudly and clearly, but if the decision-maker, who is invariably Malay, can be bought then no policy or special privilege will save the Malays. Prime Minister and UMNO President Dato Sri Najib Razak mistakenly describes this as a perception problem,

When pressed by the media, he acknowledged such a practice of suppressing competition was unfair but a culture within Umno and he himself had suffered this when he was there.

Anwar had been the Umno deputy president and Deputy Prime Minister until his sacking in 1998 by Mahathir on trumped-up sodomy and corruption charges, which are now widely acknowledged even within Umno to be part of a diabolical conspiracy by Mahathir and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin to curtail his phenomenal popularity and rise in the party.

Anwar’s answer also reflected the suspicion of many Malaysians in the run-up to the much-watched Umno internal election that the call for no contests for the top two positions – the presidency and deputy presidency – was actually a means to allow Najib to retain the No. 1 spot while barring Muhyiddin from making a challenge.

“Even when I was in Umno, this was just pushed through by Mahathir. Many of us did not agree but that was what it meant to be. That there be no possibility to challenge the presidency at that time. That was why the decision made. So if Najib wants to bar, preclude the possibility of Muhyiddin contesting against him, that’s a decision for Umno to take. My view even in those days is that it is not democratic,” said Anwar.

“Notwithstanding who the personalities are, the party that claims to fulfill the principles of democracy must allow for open contests. The people must be allowed, they can choose not to. But you cannot bar or you should not.”

ZAHID: PM SHOULD ALSO RESIGN FOR ALLEGED MURDER OF MONGOLIAN NATIONAL ALTANTUYA SHAARIIBUU.

French Scorpene probe extends to Bala’s SD2  PM should also resign for alleged murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. Mahathir said, When a BN minister or member becomes a liability, the BN will use all the “goodies” they have collected to destroy him/her by using the judicial system and other forms of blackmail. Mahatir is the master of … Read more

If your guy wants to have sex with you tonight, he’d do anything to please you and put you to bed. Don’t let your emotions rule you. Decide whether he’s genuinely praising you or caring about you or just pretending to do so. If he is always this way, it is not an issue but he’s suddenly caring and loving towards you, there is certainly a motive behind it.

If you are planning to live with your boyfriend or girlfriend, remember that there will be a host of compromises to make when you are living together. Here’s what you need to look out for…

When you are living together, it is extremely difficult to make your personalities and living styles mesh right away and that is exactly why you have to make many compromises.

Most men tend to play love games with womenat some or the other point in a relationship. If you think it is happening constantly, it’s time to talk it out with your boyfriend.

Personality clashes

This one is known to be one of the biggest compromises to make when you are living together. When you move in with your partner, you are going to have to deal with the clashes between your personalities. For example, if you are a neatness freak and your boyfriend is messy, you will have to find out a way to deal with that.

The no make-up face

This one is specifically for all the glam girls. Know that your boyfriend will see you without make-up on an everyday basis from now on. He’ll see you when you wake up feeling grumpy in the morning and when you fall sick. Make sure you are ready for this one!

Sharing all expenses

When you’ve agreed to move in with your partner, not only do you guys share the house together but all the expenses that come with it. For example, paying the electricity bills, doing the grocery or going shopping together. Many couples like to divide the expenses between themselves, while many agree to pay half-and-half between themselves. This one is for you to figure out what you would like to go in for.

Two days after his sensational judgment on sexual relations between adults, Justice C S Karnan has further elaborated on the order which accords the status of marriage to all such relationships, and said his ruling would help maintain the “cultural integrity of India” and “protect the welfare of women”.

On Wednesday, issuing an unusual addendum in reaction to the heated debates it has generated in social media and other platforms, he said: “This court’s order does not in any way run against any religion and is not intended to wound any Indian. The order had not in any way degraded the system of marriage performed as per the various religious and customs and rites among the various communities.”

Reiterating his conclusion that sexual ties between a man and woman of marriageable age would raise the affair to the status of a marital union, Justice Karnan said: “If a bachelor aged 21 years or above and a spinster aged 18 years or above had premarital sex with intention to marry and subsequent to this the man deserts the woman, the victim woman can approach a civil forum for remedy after producing necessary substantial evidence to grant her social status as wife. This remedy is not only for the purpose of giving relief to the victim woman but also to maintain the cultural integrity of India.”

Cautioning critics of the judgment, Justice Karnan said: “Law permits the affected woman to initiate criminal proceedings against her paramour for cheating her and deserting her after making a promise of marriage, but there is no provision to approach the civil forum for her remedy. The high court is the apex court of this state and constitutional authority. Therefore, this court has given the legal relief to the affected woman. Without fully understanding the court’s judgment, adverse comments shall not be passed.”

But legal experts have questioned the judge’s decision to further elaborate on the order and go beyond the scope of the subject to address issues relating to culture. While the order has been broadly accepted to be in keeping with Supreme Court judgments on live-in relationships and maintenance, a senior sitting judge of the same high court said Wednesday’s addition ought not to have referred to the issue of ‘cultural integrity’ and the welfare of women. “The issue pertains to maintenance, and to justify the award he had discussed sexual interaction and status of marriage. But linking it to a larger and intangible issue of culture is unwarranted,” he said. There is also the view that such a view of the man-woman relation was liable to be misinterpreted in the subordinate courts.

The Madras high court did not issue a blank cheque when it said on Monday that marriage meant ‘consummation of sexual interaction’ between a man and woman of marriageable age, with or without the rituals.

Some jurists and lawyers, chiding knee-jerk interpretations of the order, especially on social-networking portals, caution that the high court had not attempted to set down terms for a man-woman relationship outside marriage. Far from that. All it said, in fact, was that after a prolonged relationship as partners, a man or woman cannot relieve himself/herself from its consequences and liabilities, on the ground that it had not been registered or solemnised.

Advocate and matrimonial case specialist T K R Sudha, who is also treasurer of the Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA), said the order was almost in tune with umpteen orders of the Supreme Court and other high courts on the issue of live-in relationships. “Though matrimonial laws have not been amended adequately to accommodate and address the complexities of live-in affairs, there are apex court rulings which are laws of the land till a specific law is enacted. The soul of the judgment is in line with apex court rulings, only words are different,” she said.

However, senior advocate and former high court judge, K Chandru said, “Matrimonial issues must be addressed on case-by-case, facts-by-facts and person-by-person basis,” although the presumption of marriage is possible in cases of domestic violence cases, which have a specific provision dealing with household and live-in relationships. But in general, he warns against the tendency to make sweeping statements in family matters. Chandru feels the order is likely to be misunderstood by subordinate courts, which might force people into relationships merely because they have had sexual relations.

“Though perfectly all right when read in the context of the case in hand, certain phrases and words in the judgment do disturb me. Terms such as ‘sexual consummation’, ‘sexual gratification’ and ‘sexual interaction’ are not politically correct in this age. While higher judicial forums have adopted a holistic view of the live-in relationship and tried to maintain a fine balance between a usual marriage and an unusual marriage, this verdict tries to draw a black-and-white portrait,” said a senior judicial officer.

Badar Sayeed, former additional advocate-general of Tamil Nadu, felt the court had attached too much value to the sexual aspect of a wedding. While agreeing with Justice C S Karnan’s ruling that he had to presume that the parties to the case – Aysha and Ozir Hassan – were wife and husband because there was evidence to show they lived together for about five years and had two children during the period, she said the judge’s views on primacy of sexual interaction between the couple as obiter dicta have no

As for the court’s suggestion that either party may approach the family court for declaration of their marital rights, activist and advocate Geetha Ramaseshan said this would open a floodgate of litigation in the family court.

Former city public prosecutor of Chennai M Shahjahan said he was tempted to partly agree with the ruling, but wondered how such a view would square with other matrimonial issues such as right to property and separation. “How will the two living together separate and what will be the terms of separation?” he said. “Can the offence of bigamy under Section 494 IPC be invoked if the man or women in a live-in relationship or who had ‘consummated’ their sexual interaction has another parallel relationship? What about partition and property rights?”

Advocate and former special public prosecutor for the human-rights court V Kannadasan said Justice Karnan’s order would squarely apply to the case he had handled alone. “It can never become a law, and be a precedent for all cases concerning live-in relationships or where a man of 21 and woman of 18 had ‘consummated’ their sexual interaction,” he said.

Though it appears to have strengthened the right to choose one’s own way of life, Monday’s order has clearly added to the already tangled web of matrimonial laws and their interpretations.

Being so hard on ourselves reflects the great fear many of us having of falling short. And one of the key obstacles all of us are going…You can touch someone’s life by empowering them, and in turn, you are actually empowering yourself. There couldn’t be a more perfect way…What if our definition of success included not only achievement, but also happiness, well-being and our contribution to society?

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitted today he might have made a mistake in giving guarantees for Internet freedom, which has been blamed for empowering and enabling opposition parties to win more seats in the 13th general election.

The former prime minister said if he had the opportunity to do so again he would reconsider his decision to grant absolute freedom for the Internet when setting up the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996.

“When I headed the MSC, I was asked by an American woman whether we would block the Internet.

“I told her no, we will be very free… but now I will think twice about it,” Dr Mahathir said at the closing of the CEO Forum 2013 at the Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur today.

Dr Mahathir said he did not expect the decision to cause such drastic changes that it can be misused by irresponsible parties and the public making provocative statements against each other.

“When given the freedom, we thought nothing much will change but once you give them freedom, they will usually abuse it.

“Now you see the public provoking each other, such statements have made us to distance from each other,” he added.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has previously promised not to block the Internet, and instead try to approach the people using social media.

He also said the government would not licence news portals or blogs as done by its southern neighbour Singapore, but would enforce existing laws to ensure national harmony.

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter microblogging network have been acknowledged as among the reasons for the “Arab Spring” in Egypt where the people had demanded their then president Hosni Mubarak to resign.

It is estimated that 29 per cent of Facebook account holders in Malaysia are aged between 25 and 34 years old.

Political analysts say Malaysians use the Internet to get information, prompting politicians to use Facebook and Twitter to reach out to voters rather than using the mainstream media which has seen shrinking newspaper circulation and dwindling television viewership over the years. – June 18, 2013

There’s been turmoil in the nursery of individual freedom ever since we had the audacity to question USA’s eye-spy games on people’s private affairs. Cyber nannies have been tut-tutting over signs of gross insubordination, while libertarians have reacted like a petulant teenager revolting against parental tabs on her goings and comings. The jury is split down the middle over the guilt or otherwise of Edward Snowden. He’s the dude who blew the whistle on the US (and UK) government’s mass surveillance programme, revealing how wide and deep intelligence services have cast their clandestine Net under the cover of ‘national security’. The response has ranged from shock to ‘Aw!’.

The red-faced American director of National Intelligence described it as ‘reckless disclosures and significant misimpressions in the media’. That’s an interesting new phrase which our own oft-embarrassed netas might jump upon. The leak business’s chief pissoir, Julian Assange, predictably hailed Snowden as a hero.

China crowed with this proof that it wasn’t the only Peeping Tom. In recent months, it had been finger-pointed by the ‘free world’ for gathering ‘geopolitically significant’ information on governments and critical businesses over the past five years. And the rest of us rolled our eyes and looked askance at such a fuss being made over privacy in a culture where the revealing of every teensy-weensy, disgusting detail has become a mass obsessive compulsive disorder.

The Snowden meltdown merely proves that in the globa lcharade y . But instead of a cynical shrug, why not turn this US surveillance scandal to our own good? We should turn it on its head and, as the older and wiser Gandhi had advised, turn the light inwards. Allow me to propose some reverse osmosis. In place of government misappropriating mass data to spy on the affairs of citizens, let us set up a programme to pry into official non-workings, and thus give the government community a taste of its own cyber enemas.

You would be foolish to say, ‘Oh but laws is an ass  already do this for us.’ They don’t. Over millennia,  has honed expertise in creating byzantine barriers to information, and knows exactly how to use such knowhow for how-not-to. Their political masters have learnt even faster. Just recently, poli-tical parties, cutting across all external and internal dividing lines, united against the common enemy, namely the public, and opposed the home minister’s move to strip off their protective purdah. Clearly, everyone in some position of power believes that transparency belongs only in the realm of diaphanous attire: it furthers one’s tenancy of Page 3, but leads to certain eviction from Page 1.
Unlike governments who mask their sly-spy actions in such lofty concerns as ‘national security’,  government surveillance proposal aims at lowlier, local good. For example, at garbage collection of the physical kind, not the filth collected from closed encounters of the Mahatirism kind. It will issue data-mining licences on a first-proved, first-given basis. In the garbage case, it will encourage acclaimed algorithm aces to come up with a programme which can sift through mounds of municipal inefficiency and corruption with the speed of a virtual ragpicker, and pinpoint which corporator deserves to be recycled, and which sent to the dump without delay or electoral procedure.

This neta-babu surveillance programme has no pretentious justification such as the prevention of global terrorism. Its clear and present purpose is making our little worlds safe from the daily terrorism of official indifference, inefficiency and integrity (lack of). So, here’s to big data on the big dadas of power to end the powerlessness of lowly Citizen Jay.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must have been desperate for a deal with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

That can be inferred from the type of deal Najib offered Anwar – who declined to personally meet with the Malaysian PM – through intermediary Jusuf Kalla, the former Indonesian vice-president who is friends with both Najib and Anwar

Najib pressed an offer of reconciliation that apparently entailed a national unity government with a deputy prime minister’s role for Anwar and four ministerial posts for PKR leaders. Anwar was said to have rejected the offer.

According to sources, Najib had tried to meet with Anwar in Jakarta all of Saturday but Anwar studiously avoided the PM.

Whereas Najib had the edge over Anwar on how a pre-polls pact between the two had panned out, the latter regained the initiative in supposedly reconciliatory gambits initiated by Najib in Jakarta to which both leaders had repaired over the weekend.

Last Friday, Anwar had flown to Bali to meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who a week after the May 5 polls in Malaysia, had requested that the Pakatan leader visit Jakarta for discussions.

Anwar told Bambang (left) he could only meet with the Indonesian President after a pre-planned visit to the United States.

That visit over, Anwar flew to Bali last Friday where he met Bambang who gave vent to his views on the May 5 general election.

According to a source close to Anwar who met with the Pakatan leader on Monday, Bambang said he had expected a bit of fraud to taint Malaysia’s Election 2013, as in most such affairs throughout the world, but the extent of the cheating that took place in GE13 had appalled the Indonesian leader.

The source, a former senior PKR leader, said the Indonesian president told Anwar he was deeply disappointed by what had happened.

No meeting in Jakarta

After his discussions with Anwar that continued on Saturday, Bambang lent Anwar the use of his presidential jet to fly to Jakarta where Anwar was scheduled to meet former Indonesian VP Jusuf at the latter’s residence at 3pm the same day.

Najib was waiting to meet Anwar whom the Malaysian PM had expected to arrive in Jakarta from Bali through the Halim Perdana airport but the presidential jet landed at another airport in the Indonesian capital.

Unable to meet with Anwar at Halim Perdana, Najib bided his time with a round of golf with Jusuf (right) whose good offices the PM had sought in arranging a meeting with Anwar.

In conversation with Jusuf over golf and later at Jusuf’s home in Jakarta where Najib waited for Anwar to show up, the PKR source said Najib sold Jusuf on the idea of Anwar as a leader of impressive calibre.

When Anwar declined to show up at Jusuf’s residence for the scheduled meeting because he wanted to avoid Najib, the former Indonesian veep came to Anwar’s hotel in Jakarta to convey Najib’s proffer of posts for him and his PKR cohort.

But Anwar declined to bite the bait and flew out of Jakarta. At a PKR political bureau meeting last night, Anwar tabled Najib’s proffer for discussion, only to find his rejection of it affirmed by the party.

he Malaysian history written today is biased especially the details in the struggle for independence and the achievements of the past Malaysian leaders.

This fits UMNO just fine but still it was inherited from the British, thus our written history has not painted the British as bad either. Nothing much was written on the Japanese Occupation and the real hardships faced by our people during that time.

Our historians are more interested in just writing our history in the form of diaries with chronology of the events without any analysis or points for us to ponder. That is why we never learned from history. A proper history should be holistic and not selective.

History of Malaysia or the UMNO book of fairy tales?

But everything written on UMNO has been rosy in our history books; UMNO has achieved so many things and has never failed us! So actually, from the UMNO point of view, there really is no need to re-write our history as suggested by former Umno president and ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad.

UMNO is already whiter than white. But perhaps the Machiavellian Mahathir is thinking of blackening the part of our history that relates to other people and other parties that are non-UMNO related.

Of course, there is also the possibility that he wants to ‘improve’ the image of UMNO even further and put his party on a pedestal, with Mahathir – the founder of UMNO Baru – right at the top.

But that would be outrageous and outright repulsive for the majority of us; making it hard for the 51% who voted for the Opposition to swallow.

The new history would just be like a fairy tale fit to be read and memorised only by small children. But in a few years, these children will grow up and with the Internet, and all the information at their finger tips, they too will find the new history repulsive.

The bad must also be highlighted

However if Mahathir really wants our history to be re-written, then it should also relate all the failures and not just the successes of the various governments.

Our history must also record all the wrong doings of UMNO leaders and their scandals. It must also highlight the successes and failures of the New Economic Policy which has played a key role in moulding our history. The historians must write on how our natural resources have been plundered and our environment damaged. And please do not omit the May 13 racial riot instigated by UMNO!

Also, please do not forget to write on the performance of our security forces when several major incidents are still fresh in our minds. For example, how they blundered in defeating the Suluk insurgents in Sabah and how the police brutalized the very people whom they are supposed to protect. Write also about the increase in crimes. Please include also how our judiciary has lost its integrity.

Then, write on the incompetence, arrogance and lack of principles at the Election Commission too. Write on how the main stream media was used by UMNO as propaganda machines. The RM250mil NFC debacle and the Scorpene –Altantuya corruption-murder scandals are big enough to warrant separate and dedicated chapters too.

The younger generation must also be told that it was not just UMNO who struggled for independence and for that matter it was not just the Malays who sacrificed their blood and lives to secure our independence.

Any new findings, or more accurately said, other points of view on the heroic acts by non-UMNO members such as Mat Indera as pointed out by PAS deputy president Mat Sabu must also be highlighted. Who is UMNO to vehemently deny and negate the rights of others to a place in Malaysia’s history? It is a fact that at that time the Malayan Police were indeed under British control, loyal to the King of England and not our Agong.

Liar King!

Anyway go on Mahathir – change, re-write, fabricate, exaggerate, lie and what not, you won’t change anything.

The people are in the know and they know what has been going on all these while. Re-writing our history won’t change the historical facts even a little bit. Only UMNO cronies will get the benefits to undertake the re-writing efforts, publishing and selling the new history books.

See, you can re-write, lie and re-lie but you cannot change history!