The residents of Lucky Garden Bangsar put up flags of Bersih and PKR at the roundabout but was removed by DBKL.

However they [ residents] took all the removed flags and replanted when they confronted the enforcement officers indicating that there is NO obstruction of traffic and further more Nong Chik ‘s banners are bigger and no approval seeked from DBKL but are all over Bangsar..

Thats people power… viva … the people of Lucky Garden…

Never before have we seen such unity … awesome solidarity!!!

Who would have sent DBKL’s staff to do this dirty work?

Sabarlah pakcik.. moga kepala Dato’ Raja Nong Chik bin Datuk Raja Zainal Abidin   yang  melastik ball bearing  tu pulak pecah kena lenyek lori..aminYes, Khairy, and I can categorically state that you have reduced yourself to the status of an apologist for all of Umno’s crimes against common decency – albeit a very well-dressed one with a posh imported accent.

WILL YOU VOTE RAJA NONG CHIK WHO LET THE DOG AT YOU

BN-UMNO Gov’t, in power for 55 yrs, is rotten to the core, rotten & stinking inside out. Mahathir & Taib Manmud’s wealth is each rated at approx RM45 billion, Najib RM30 billion, Daim’s? Taib’s Uncle Yakub before that? And all the other cronies’ wealth? All the losses and mismanagement in 55 yrs? If you crunch the numbers, every single Malaysian has lost a fortune. (For the understanding of Sarawak’s interior natives: 1 billion is 1000 million). These are mafias, crooks & criminals by any standard. Now Jesse Jaskson Junior in US faces 3 yrs in jail for misuse of US$750,000 in election funds. In China people are shot for embezzling US$100,000. Your Malaysian Giant Criminals? You estimate the punishment to befit the crimes! I’d say 5,000 strokes of the rattan and 10,000 years in jail.

Shenaaz Khan

‘Twas a glorious day indeed as devilry had ceased momentarily and I was met at my neighbourhood street junction by the fine featured face of the legitimate Lembah Pantai lawmaker. This was rather unorthodox of course, given the vile vindictive vandalism perpetuating through my Pakatan-held constituency.

Having been a resident of Bangsar Baru for 38 years now, I have never quite witnessed such unashamed UMNO unlawfulness as I have in the last 2 years. The blatant breaching of by-laws has been bolstered with barefaced belligerence and Bolshevik brute! At every street corner, a pasty face with creepy veneers and still hair would pounce out at unsuspecting motorists without woeful warning of the wimpy visage! Public property has been plastered with pimping portraits of bribe-brocaded BN bumpkins. And patches of grass outside private homes have been plunged with BN billboards, erected on the directive of (SPOILER ALERT!) the Federal Territories Ministry! This nugget of information came as a terrible horrible shock to ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!!

For awhile now, many Bangsar folk have been subjected to this menacing modus of a moustached mooching marauder called Raja Nong Chik. A non parliamentarian and kitchen entrance minister, Raja Nong Chik is, for all intents and purposes, a perfidious politician who offensively plies the peasants of Pantai Valley with his patrician pity! And with hideous regularity, he is seen bouncing about and brunching with the Bob’s and Betty’s of Bangsar, venturing to vulture votes. Hardly acts of hardiment one would think!

If there is one thing that I hate to death, it is spam. Getting spam email is one of the most annoying things ever.

Even more annoying are spam SMSes… you know, the ones that tell you about cheap beer at various nightclubs or discounts at popular restaurants.
But recently, the most annoying spam SMSes I have received are from a certain politician and Cabinet minister who goes by the name of Raja Nong Chik.
It started when I decided to register to vote slightly less than a year ago. Registration went fine with no glitches (i.e. suddenly finding out I’m registered to vote in Sabah!)
My constituency, according to my IC address, is Lembah Pantai. As we know, the current MP in that area is PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Since I didn’t vote in the last general election, I can’t claim to have played a role in getting her into office.
And now that the 13th general election is coming up, rumour has it that Umno will be fielding Raja Nong Chik in Lembah Pantai.
Now right after I had registered to vote (at the Election Commission office in Shah Alam), I started receiving the SMSes.
The first one wished me Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha, signed off with “RAJA NONG CHIK.”
I was quite shocked! I had only just registered a couple of weeks ago and now this Cabinet minister already had my mobile phone number.
I was about to cry “personal data theft!”, but quickly restrained myself. Good thing I did because, apparently, there is no such law against that in Malaysia.
After that, it just went on and on. I started receiving New Year greetings, advice on how to spend my Ramadan and even an invitation for Lailatul Qadar prayers.
Last month, I even received an SMS that had the hash tags #MERDEKA55 and #JANJIDITEPATI! He could be using the same bot service as #YORAIS!
The last straw came last Tuesday. My iPhone blew out the fog-horn ring tone, indicating that an SMS had come in so I quickly checked my phone.
When I noticed it was from Raja Nong Chik, I just got annoyed. But what pushed me to the edge was the content of the SMS itself.
“SLMT HARI LAHIR. Moga terus berjaya. Sama2 kita berdoa di hari lahir anda, agar agama, bangsa & tanahair terus terpelihara. Ikhlas: Raja Nong Chik, Menteri WPKB.” (Happy birthday. May you have continuous success. Let us pray on your birthday that our religion, race and homeland are protected. Sincerely: Raja Nong Chik, FTUW.)
I couldn’t take it anymore and although I knew it was useless, I immediately typed and sent a response to the bot mobile phone number.
“You got it wrong. My birthday is in June.”
Now, every time I’m in Bangsar or its surrounding vicinity, and I see a poster, banner or bunting with Raja Nong Chik’s face on it, I get turned off.
I literally feel sick and this is without even listening to him speak about his policies and promises. So much so that I’m inclined to vote for the other candidate.
I guess his plan to garner votes (that is if he really is going to contest in the Lembah Pantai constituency) is back-firing.
What he needs is someone with a decent enough level of intelligence to advise him on his A&P campaign. It’s really simple actually and I think I’ll SMS him my advice: “Don’t irritate your voters.”

Nonetheless his blog boasts a sudden stellar track record of service to the people of Lembah Pantai and could lead one to believe that Nong can do no wrong!! His catalogue of kindness includes stalking, soliciting and spamming the simple people of Lembah Pantai! Yes, everywhere a voter wanders, there he is. Just a fortnight ago, I received a box emblazoned with his smug mug, filled with festive fruit. Actually for this, I was rather thankful as I quite enjoy ingesting oranges and my cats love turning cardboard into confetti.

But the endless stream of text messages, mails and postcards pointlessly piled onto Pantairians carrying the “Nong Chik is no chickadee” chants has all but made many quite sick of Nong Chik. Yes, much like the Great Mustachio Prime Minister NAJ1B, who drums for support with a demeanour that demands a diuretic, Nong Chiks ballot begging has produced bile in many bellies. And Bangsar bellies are further upchucked by Chiks bastionhood of banner bullying. Yes, BANNER BULLYING! Tis a riveting game of brashly binning banners of one’s foe and then brandishing beastly banners bearing BN blockheads! The cheek of him!

Now the Nong-Nurul imbroglio has courted much contempt from both campaigning camps! Hence, last week, the democratically elected Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, invited the resident rounding Raja to a public powwow on policies and performances. She proposed a date and a bipartisan mediator. But the foul fowl frowned upon the offer as he has a debilitating disdain for democracy and diplomacy! This was abundantly justified of course, as a debate debacle could easily prove Nong to be one humongous nought!

To those who have beheld the idiocy of indignation, it was delightfully obvious that Nuruls’ debate demand dilemma-ed dear Nong and frightened the faeces out of the FT fronter, who favours flibberti-gibberti falsehoods to irrefutable facts! Now I don’t mean to get philosophical, but Nong is no Nietzsche and is more accustomed to spin than Spinoza. So he says NO to his nemesis, feebly fearing that Nurul, the novice, would nimbly numb his neurons with nuanced knowledge of his niggling nepotism.

A King among cowards, he instead opts to spinelessly spew spiteful slander from platforms made of plastercine and pipes and trumpet his trivial triumphs to troupers, trustees and Tamagotchis. Mindful that any public debate would expose Nurul’s natty nature against his nonsensical natter, the mischievous minister maligns my MP’s movement with madcap monologue.

Two days ago, amidst a barrage of barren bollocks, the cowardly Chik commanded us to feverishly fear the onslaught of dingling democracy should those tongue twisting, freedom frothing, homosexual hosting Opposition win the next general elections! The ninth circle of hell will then be upon us and we shall become the Nubian slaves of Godless heathens! Malaysia shall be imperilled, for the Opposition is going to Khmer our Rouge and hurl us into Das Kapital damnation! How very tragic!

Yes, Nong certainly neighed some knee-slapping nuttiness when he compared the Opposition to the Khmer Rouge. My, my, such asinine assertions would confound both Mulder and Scully alike! One can’t help but be nonplussed by Nong’s nonsense. His chid of the Khmer Rouge is like the pot calling the Pol Pot black! It is after all the BN regiment that represses the rights of its rakyat with racial and religious discrimination and rampant abuse of power! And they do this all while taking a whack at the nation’s wealth. Poor Raja- his thoughts must have been stuck at the taxidermist and he must have confused the Khmer Rouge with Moulin Rouge.

But if Raja Nong Chik wishes to invoke horrible histories, he ought to reflect upon these hard-hitting truths of yesteryears- Elmer Fudd never killed Bugs Bunny, Wile E Coyote never out ran the road runner and Gargamel could not impede the smurfs from becoming Ipad icons, even if it was the last thing he ever did!

And Raja Nong Chik best remember that on March 8th 2008, the people of Lembah Pantai handed divorce papers to the malfeasant Madam Shahrizat and retained custody of our pride. We value our vale far too much to ever let anymore thieving, smirking BN overlords leech on to our land. So, so long Nong! And may the rest of the nation bid adieu to the BN blisters and their rotting residue!

While maintaining that there has yet to be proof of who started the Pantai Dalam fracas on last Thursday, Lembah Pantai Umno division chief Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin speculated that it happened because PKR brought outsiders into local politics.

related articlehttp://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/taxidrivers-street-sources-says-raja-nong-chik-has-given-a-blank-cheque-to-mayor-ahmad-fuad-to-organise-to-c

 I dare say Khairy is not in the inner circle of Umno to confirm whether directives were issued or not. The problem is that Malaysiakinidoes not report the news accurately. They do not tell you of the PKR supporters throwing and starting the violence, but show one side and report only one side.
Just like the butt hooligans who masqueraded as army veterans outside Bersih co-chair S Ambiga’s house have been traced to Rela members under the home minister’s purview, these attacks are well-coordinated using similar tactics of throwing stones, eggs and water bottles.
Umno may want to portray incidents like this as Malays being unhappy with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, but till the day thugs like the Sekinchan Ikan Bakar owner can manage to draw 100-200 loafers for his protests and not thousands of Malays, we could safely conclude that Umno’s so-called Malay support and support from the silent majority are fairy tales. Keep dreaming.

 Who but Umno encourages and gets involved in this type of thuggery? Give credit to the opposition and the public that they have not retaliated to this ‘samseng’ culture.

http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/raja-nong-chik-says-desperate-measures-the-national-feedlot-centre-nfc-scandal-a-maximum-jail-term-of-20-years-hanging-over-datuk-seri-sh

More interested in mega-business

related http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/raja-nong-chik-shining-lembah-pantai-voters-drowning-can-we-afford-another-unquestionable-sharizat-in-name-

Now how on earth do our politicians have the time to be involved in healthy and wise politics serving in the best interest of the rakyat and the nation if they are also into mega-buck businesses?

Besides, one also wonders how on earth can they place rakyat first before self if they have their own profits to worry about, day and night. Should the government of the day not ban all politicians from indulging in business deals and leave business to the business world?

It seemed that BN/UMNO has already won the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat before it begins with the registration of 15,000 new voters which appears to be exceptionally high !

Would the Election Commission cares or dares to make public the electoral rolls for the public to scrutinize if no underhand tactics or methods are intended.realated articlehttp://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com

/2012/04/28/it-is-a-war-now-the-fight-for-dataran-in-k-l-raja-nong-chik-vs-the-people/

The public has every right to check the lists of names and addresses of the new voters to ascertain that they are genuine and bona-fide new voters It is here that the shift in voter support is happening. Raja Nong Chik has been active in cultivating voters at the PPR flats and the numerous crowded urban housing schemes in Kampung Kerinchi, Pantai Dalam and Brickfields.

relatedhttp://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/raja-nong-chik-laughing-lembah-pantai-voters-drowning/

Mr. Baradan,how much you were paid by Raja Nong Chik the bastard who unleased the dogs at his voters . As usual it will be buttering a BN candidate, this time Raja Nong Chik, the backdoor representative. You have left out an important point ( deliberate or by ignorance). Whose money is Raja Nong Chik using to ” win” the hearts Lembah Pantai voters. And every candidate will display the most caring attitude before election except for Nurul Izzah who remains humble as ever.relatedhttp://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/mr-mayor-fuad-you-are-fucked-nong-chik-sodomised/

The constituency also has a strong PAS presence among the rich and poorer sections and they are expected to back Nurul as they did in 2008.

But many of the electorate are moving away from  lies transformation programmes introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Grassroots workers are seeing a shift in voter perception for Nurul

Both sides have registered voters in large numbers in this Malay-majority constituency that they hope would tip the balance in their favour.

Whatever the outcome, the battle for Lembah Pantai will be one of the hottest in the upcoming general election.

But this time around Nurul has a tough fight on her hands to retain this urban seat that has a mix of voters – urban poor, middle-of-the-road civil servants and the urban rich.

Shahrizat and her supporter, who are  expected to re-contest the seat that she had held for three terms, was removed from the political scene by the “Cowgate” scandal, will give  maximum trouble to  Raja Nong Chik  so that he will loose his deposit leaving the political scene for ever

PAS closed political system with its focus on elections and on intra and inter- party collisions as its centrepiece is becoming outdated. The combination of traditional media particularly television becoming shriller and more persistent, the coming of age of social media which atomises the right to be heard and do so in real time and the emergence of a middle class anxious to build its own political constituency has created a new political force that wields influence that is disproportionate to its numerical presence. However inconsequential the media might be in determining the final outcome of elections, it can make the life of PAS  government a living hell on a day-to-day basis. This is something   PAS  state government has encountered often, but not quite acknowledged.

In spite of its numerical inconsequence, the political system cannot govern if it does not cater to this new community of interests. For that it will need to reorganise itself, beginning with a new mental model of what administering power must look like. Coming to power is no longer a position of rest, but a call for action. To do justice to this, the question of who wields executive power and to what end must it be applied, become more important than in the past. If earlier, it was possible to think of the appointment and allocation state excos largely through the lens of political accommodation, today personal competence will begin to matter much more. The ability to engage with stakeholders and communicate effectively will put pressure on the system to throw up more worthy candidates. Visible responsiveness and the ability to connect emotionally will become important not just while campaigning but while governing.

If seeing is believing- go watch a Harry potter movie and after that take a standard test of creative abilities- say the Torrent Test of creative thinking (TTCT).  Chances are, your score on this test would be far better than if you had just watched Schindler’s list.  This is because realism constrains, while fantasy expands our sphere of possibilities.  And one measure of creativity is how big your associational space is and how implausible, but useful connections you can make between distant ideas and concepts While Intelligence is measured as the ability to come up with the right solution to a difficult problem and is in some sense related to convergent thinking; Creativity is assessed as the ability to come up with multiple, novel solutions to say everyday problems and is related to divergent thinking.. One way one measures creativity is to look at the number of alternate uses one can find for a commonplace item- say a brick- and look at how original and surprising the answers are too.

Needless to say, for creativity you need an open mind- imagination and the ability to think up counter-factuals-  not restricted by only what is already there, but also being open and sensitive to what can be possible. Fantasy, in a way is the perfect antidote, to liberate us form the here-and now and open us to more possibilities.

Our political system represents the people of the country on paper, but in practice it has become increasingly self-serving. Elections have been the defining feature of our democratic process, and indeed have been for the most part its primary and often, singular face.

Once elected,  PAS have been able, by and large, to coast till the time comes for the next elections. There have been problems in maintaining power, but most of these have come from within one’s own party in the form of internal dissent and factionalism. The disagreements have not so much been about issues of policy or legislation, but about the personal ambition of those left out of the power sharing arrangement. The absence of inner party democracy has made the process of determining leadership a murky one, particularly in PAS where there isn’t a presumptive leader.

In UMNO something has changed fundamentally, as NXajib in particular has discovered, now any government needs to tackle two very different imperatives of democracy. Apart from the task of getting elected, today it has to face up to the increasingly onerous task of conducting itself while in power. Getting elected and staying legitimate are now two distinct tasks, needing very different set of skills. For most political parties, the rise of a new media-enabled middle class is a phenomenon that is very difficult to take seriously. Years of hardwired political wisdom tells them that this class is electorally insignificant, and that it can be paid occasional lip service to, but otherwise comfortably ignored.
.

DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI is an unusual politician. Perhaps even his worst critics might grant him that. been written about and discussed by many, in part because this was first time he engaged with this constituency but also because of what he said. Instead of addressing issues of direct interest to business, he chose to focus on his diagnosis of what was needed in a larger sense- linking aspiration with empowerment, and making the case yet again for real inclusion. PAS have otherwise shied away from using reforms as political tool; even  PAKATAN Shining campaign was never about the idea of reform but merely about its apparent outcome. This curious coyness about reform is all the more interesting because the mainstream view on its necessity seems otherwise to face no serious challenges. It is now routine to classify the PAS ‘story’ in two phases- the licence Islamic Raj

The reactions have been mixed. The public face that industry put on its reaction has been very positive, but it is difficult to tell how real that apparent reaction is. Equally, there is no dearth of those that continue to ridicule him for what they see as a sophomoric approach to key national issues and his refusal to engage with questions beyond those that interest him. And of course, there are those that presumptively write off anything he says or does on account of his being seen as a thoroughly undeserving

What is wrong with Hadi being the PM? Isn’t he a Malaysian like all of us? I will have Hadi as PM any day as long as he is honest and care for all Malaysians. He is a better bet than any candidates from BN/Umno!

In some ways, the idea of  PAS Hadi to  be PM , the political system being made more accountable for its actions. While it is the government that has seemingly been the focus of all attacks, in reality it is the entire political establishment that is facing a significant challenge. Of course, this new formation, comes with its own biases and vested interests and its own assertive tone of self-importance. It privileges only a certain set of issues and often seeks solutions that are often token in character. In its bias for the theatricality of democracy, it creates a new order of complexity that needs careful and often sophisticated navigating. There is a demand for a new kind of PAS Islamic government, which is both heartfelt and shallow. This gives the political system an opportunity to reassert its legitimacy and give direction to this new instinct. Instead of being defined exclusively by this new constituency, there is an opportunity to harness its power and redirect it towards more inclusive and long-term goals. However given that the political system is largely in denial, it is unlikely that we will see it take the lead. What is more likely is more shrill noise, and more reluctant acquiescence. The republic is being reclaimed, but the journey is going to be an imperfect and messy one.The truth – the real truth – will become well established…. is that is untrustworthy as a friend. Even Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang … dangerous. ,The new P word resulted in verbal incontinence, with everyone jumping in to empty his blather. PKR went on a fast ostensibly to atone but actually to tone down electoral damage. …Read more

The underlying principle involved concerns not the arithmetic of fairness, but the calculus of morality. It is when a civilisation puts the prospect of   a person who deserves the death penalty according both humanity and humility, but it needs to be rooted in a moral conviction about a society’s values.Can an election ever throw up the right candidate? Or to put it more moderately, is an election the mechanism best suited to throw up representatives that will strive to work for their constituents and attempt to better their life? Are there in-built into the electoral process, a set of imperatives that help pre-determine one kind of outcome, irrespective of the quality of the candidates?

PAS is contesting against PKR in seven seats in Election 2013 out of fear that PKR candidates would defect once elected, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said yesterday.

On Nomination Day last Saturday, PAS and its ally PKR both fielded candidates in one federal seat and six state seats although seat negotiations in the opposition pact were said to have been concluded.

“There were clashes because we want to save Pakatan Rakyat (PR),” Abdul Hadi was recorded as saying yesterday on a YouTube clip titled “Kenapa berlaku pertindihan calon PAS & PKR?” (Why were there clashes between PAS and PKR candidates?).=Increasingly, it would seem that what it takes to win an election is not only very different from what it takes to govern, but might well be at odds with the idea of providing governance. The privileging of representativeness in our democracy, with an emphasis on caste and religion, has meant that electable candidates are chosen with a view to who has the biggest electoral draw in terms representing the interests of a community rather than select those that have a view on issues of policy or administration. At one level, democracy does not require its practitioners to come equipped with a track record, and representativeness is perhaps the most vital element in the idea of democracy, but over a period of time, what representativeness has come to mean identity rather than action; the leader resembles his or her constituents, speaks for them and on the occasion that he or she acts on their behalf, it is often through the same narrow lens of community. Under these circumstances, the election abets the process of weeding out those that see their role in more secular terms, and focuses its attention narrowly on those with more sectarian agendas.

“We don’t want our government to fall like Perak,” he added.

Two PKR and one DAP assemblymen in Perak defected after Election 2008 to become Barisan Nasional (BN)-friendly independents, causing the collapse of the PR state government.

PKR suffered a string of high-profile defections since Election 2008, where six federal lawmakers quit the party within a year.

In the current context of the times we live in, it seems highly unlikely that we are ready to take this larger view. If anything, the current mood is pushing towards the opposite end of the spectrum; there is a great desire to flex muscles and act in red-blooded rage. The disenchantment with the political establishment and with the current mechanisms of delivering governance have helped created a climate where visible action of any kind is presumptively valued. The need to stop talking and start doing things, whatever they might be, sometimes makes nuance a casualty, for nuance has become seen to be synonymous with the ability to skilfully argue one’s way into deliberate inaction.The sense of being under siege, which is graphically underlined by the manner in which media presents our own world back to us for outraged consumption, leads to a desire to lash out with a sense of grinding finality.

Winning elections requires a peculiar kind of caste and community arithmetic, multiplied by financial resources and propped up by on-ground muscle. The reason why the incidence of criminality in politics has been such a visible presence is partly due to the fact there are great similarities between the two skill sets. It is easier for a local tough to become a politician than it is for a local schoolteacher, to use a crude stereotype, not only because it easier for the former to mobilise resources and numbers far more easily but also because the electorate sees more advantages in being represented by someone who can thump the table on their behalf rather than someone who is not seen to have a realistic chance of winning.

The prospect of winnability makes unsuitable choices rational, for it is seen to be smarter to align with those that could win rather than root for those that might act on one’s behalf much more usefully if elected, but are seen with little real chance of doing so. Money is the other reason why only those that already have the ability or are able to generate it, are found suitable to be offered as candidates. The political system wards off change at the point of entry itself, by making the entry level conditions unsuitable for anyone but those that toe the existing line and play by the rules already laid down

The PAS syura council reportedly vetoed several candidates last February proposed for the 13th general election by the Islamist party’s leadership over concerns of defections.

Abdul Hadi refused to name the candidates whose loyalty was suspect, but stressed that PAS had no problems co-operating with the DAP and PKR.

“But we want a strong government, a government that can rule,” he said.

He added that PAS fielded a candidate in the Panti state seat in Johor because PKR’s Mohd Annuar Mohd Salleh almost did not turn up.

“The time was almost up and he did not turn up. We were on standby, afraid that we might not be able to contest. So PAS was forced to contest. When PAS entered, then only he came in,” said Abdul Hadi.

The Labuan federal seat will see a three-cornered fight involving PKR’s Ibrahim Menudin, Hadnan Mohamad of PAS and BN’s Rosman Isli.

The Sungai Acheh state seat in Penang will see PAS’s Mohd Yusni Mat Piah and PKR’s Badrul Hisham Shaharin going up against BN’s Datuk Mahmud Zakaria.

The four other state seats with PAS and PKR candidates are Kota Damansara in Selangor, as well as Bukit Besi, Kota Putera and Seberang Takir in Terengganu.

The seat overlaps would likely split voter support between PAS and PKR, indirectly giving BN an upper hand in the May 5 polls, the most keenly-contested elections in recent history.

The election requires that a large number of people exercise their preference for one candidate over the others on the basis of some knowledge and familiarity with the individual’s previous track record, the party that he or she represents, the promises made, and the overall feeling of empathy and trust generated by the individual. Given the sizes of constituencies and the scale of the geographies involved, it is difficult for someone who is already not a visible presence in at least part of the constituency to mobilise adequate support. Chances are that the choices will veer towards those that already enjoy a measure of prominence and power in the area- superannuated student leaders, local toughs, successful lawyers, families of politicians, wealthy landlords, caste and community leaders and the like.

The underlying assumption of elections is that every individual takes a personal decision, on the basis of the inputs received, to choose the person deemed suitable to represent his or her interests. The truth is in the Indian social construct, the individual does not necessarily act as a singular entity and is often inclined to act as part of a larger collective. This is true not only of elections, but of many other walks of life. The election is in some ways almost asking for people to find their own appropriate collective and to cobble together enough numbers so as to increase the bargaining power at their disposal. It is rational to do so, for otherwise every individual feels virtually no ability to influence the outcome.

The middle class distrust of politicians is in part a sense of frustration with the electoral process. Part of the reason why visible outrage does not automatically translate into higher voting percentages is because the idea is laced with a sense of presumptive futility. It is also the reason why movements like the one led by Anna Hazare get traction; the apolitical nature of the struggle is found valuable. The disenchantment with the movement is in part due to its involvement in electoral politics; the paradox being that the impetus for change cannot succeed unless it becomes a variable in the elections but the very act of getting involved with anything to do with elections is seen as an act of contamination.

Electoral reforms will help. But too much has to change before reforms by themselves can be effective. As a structure, elections cannot create intent; that must exist in the system. Without intent, the structure merely re-inforces and perhaps amplifies all that is already wrong. Even when elections are not rigged, in some ways they always are. If not by design, then by definition.

My foot Only PAS can lead M’sia to Islam, declares Mat Taib

Collective identity is not produced by one man overnight. Mat Taib alone cannot create a culture which is deviating from PAS. After all, one hardly see any of their elected wakil rakyat jumps ship.

Oh wow, so now he is all conscience clear and stand on the side of Morality now that he joined PAS?

“Only PAS can bring enlightenment,” he told a press conference after handing over his membership form to president Abdul Hadi Awang at party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

“I have to support the party that can bring true guidance.”

Muhammad said the BN has developed Malaysia but that this has been “development without soul”, leading to a morally problematic if wealthy urban society.

“Islamic values should be spreading from the cities, just like Mekah and Madinah became focal point of Islam during the Prophet’s time,” he said.

“By right, the cities in the Klang Valley, which is the metropolis, should become the beacons of Islam, to lead the way for the hinterland.”

Michael Price from the Psychology Department of Brunel University West London, equates serial monogamists such as Donald Trump and Larry King, who divorce older wives and marry younger women, as polygamists too, since they also monopolise the reproductive years of a number of women. In that sense, all celebrities, stars, prominent sportsmen and business tycoons with a series of women, can be termed polygamists as well!

Historically, the world has frowned upon polyandry (one woman with two or more men), while tolerating, if not outright encouraging by legalising, polygyny (one man with multiple sexual partners). In this one aspect, nothing seems to have changed. Even today, a woman entertaining more than one lover at a time will find much less empathy than a man doing the same.

For it is the rich who can afford such exotic indulgences. Take the case of China, where concubines have re-emerged as a trend. According to Chinese media reports, young women are increasingly interested in taking on married men as lovers in exchange for a car or an apartment. For the men, it is a status symbol to acquire a concubine, who is as much a commodity as a luxury car or mansion — it is a mark of having acquired high status. Shenzhen near Hong Kong, the world’s largest manufacturing centre and China’s richest economic zone, has acquired the dubious reputation of a “paradise of girls” that attracts Hong Kong men with its “street angels” or prostitutes, and the tempting possibility of easy-to-support mistresses or concubines. but PAS  president Abdul Hadi Awang ask for donation from voters enjoy such exotic indulgences.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang  and recycle   Former Umno vice-president Muhammad Muhammad Taibby nature polygamous Mamamia, is it really true that cows jump over the moon…?PAS president is demonstrating its Islamic virtues, in willing to accept people who are beginning to realize their past mistakes. Whether it is done in sincerity or otherwise, no one will know exactly, if Mahathir was to take the same stance as Tyson, would PAS accept him. On the evidence of the latest saga, Though today Western society frowns upon polygamy, it is still legal in many non-western societies, particularly Islamic and some African countries that allow a man to have multiple partners.If Muhd Taib is so concerned about Islam he should express his repentance over his past misdeeds and donate the proceeds of his ill gotten gains towards the propagation of the faith. Without doing this he is just an opportunist.Why do PAS accept this man? It like letting the wolf into the house. Hope Hadi and the rest know what they are doing.Polygyny is legally permissible in some cultures, while polyandry has never found support. Even in the rarest of rare cases of a woman with more than one man, the husbands have almost always been from the same family, as was the case with Draupadi married to the five Pandavas. This is so because wealth is controlled mostly by men, making it easier for them to run a harem of women rather than the other way round. Also, consider biological factors; men have more to gain with multiple partners than women. Evolutionary biologists say polygamy is good for men, but not so for women. If a woman gets pregnant, a polygamous man can still have sex/children with his other partners, whereas after pregnancy a polyandrous woman cannot satisfy any of her men for quite some time. The practice of polygyny was rampant in the hunter-gatherer and tribal societies from which we evolved. Then, as well as now, it has remained the preserve of the rich and well-established. Monogamy came to be socially imposed in ancient Greece and Rome, and was later actively encouraged by Christianity. Though today Western society frowns upon polygamy, it is still legal in many non-western societies, particularly Islamic and some African countries that allow a man to have multiple partners.

Women from poor villages across China come here not so much to look for a job as to land a rich man who will maintain them as concubines. The practice is so widespread that there are “concubine villages” in Shenzhen that have hundreds of women living in spacious apartments funded by wealthy lovers. These are as near the border as possible, so that rich Chinese men can leave work early, enjoy a rendezvous with their mistress and still get home to their family in time for dinner! It is not uncommon for a man to have two to three such mistresses in separate apartments!

Humans, we are told, are by nature polygamous, and men more so. Experts explain that each human being has three centres of love and emotions — passion, attachment and romance. All three need not be satisfied by the same person at all times, and humans are attracted to new partners in an attempt to fulfill these basic needs. You may enjoy romance with one person, mutual confidences with another, and sex with yet another.

Historically, the world has frowned upon polyandry (one woman with two or more men), while tolerating, if not outright encouraging by legalising, polygyny (one man with multiple sexual partners). In this one aspect, nothing seems to have changed. Even today, a woman entertaining more than one lover at a time will find much less empathy than a man doing the same.

Polygyny is legally permissible in some cultures, while polyandry has never found support. Even in the rarest of rare cases of a woman with more than one man, the husbands have almost always been from the same family, as was the case with Draupadi married to the five Pandavas. This is so because wealth is controlled mostly by men, making it easier for them to run a harem of women rather than the other way round. Also, consider biological factors; men have more to gain with multiple partners than women. Evolutionary biologists say polygamy is good for men, but not so for women. If a woman gets pregnant, a polygamous man can still have sex/children with his other partners, whereas after pregnancy a polyandrous woman cannot satisfy any of her men for quite some time. The practice of polygyny was rampant in the hunter-gatherer and tribal societies from which we evolved. Then, as well as now, it has remained the preserve of the rich and well-established. Monogamy came to be socially imposed in ancient Greece and Rome, and was later actively encouraged by Christianity. Though today Western society frowns upon polygamy, it is still legal in many non-western societies, particularly Islamic and some African countries that allow a man to have multiple partners.

Frustration clouded my mind 10 minutes into a TV debate on whether strong nationalism could lead to a strengthening of secularism in India. I switched off.

The host of the show, Karan Thapar, had posed a straightforward question: Was Narendra Modi’s recent definition of secularism “acceptable or expedient”? Within minutes, it became apparent that the debate would veer off in a direction that would not produce a discussion of what would be a valid definition of secularism. Instead, it became an argument over whether Modi was the right man to raise the question.

What had Modi said? He had defined secularism as “India first”, which he had expanded to mean aiming for a goal of “India’s well-being” which in turn would lead to secularism for it would be “automatically in our blood”. Was it expedient? Well, Modi is a politician and therefore uses rhetoric timed to suit his purpose. That is an acceptable motive in any politician. But was his definition of secularism acceptable?

Modi’s lone supporter on the show supported it as the correct definition. His critics asserted that given his record of hostility towards minorities Modi was far too intolerant a person to define secularism in any way. In my view, the problem was that both sides seemed to assume ‘secularism’ and ‘tolerance’ to be identical.

They are not. It is a confusion emerging out of a unique Indian interpretation of secularism by which the concept, which in much of the world is defined as the separation of religion and religious activities from the affairs of the state, is assumed here to mean religious tolerance. But if you go by the globally accepted definition of secularism, you would find it possible to be secular while being deeply devoted to a particular religion to the extent of actively disliking devotees of other religions.

Similarly, you might be secular and be at the same time intolerant of all religions. The tolerance you might show in either case would come not from your preference for secularism but from the fact that you’d most likely be in a democracy of which tolerance is the bedrock. Without institutionalised tolerance and a framework for peaceful, i.e. non-violent, disagreement there is no democracy, secular or otherwise.

For those who agree with Modi’s definition, there is yet another conflation of definitions that should be tackled: Does nationalism create secularism?

In fact, nationalism has little to do with secularism. They are parallel concepts. You could believe in ‘India First’ and be a religious nut who believes no devotee of any other faith can ever be a true Indian. Or, you could be a secularist who is tolerant of all faiths but a weak adherent of patriotic nationalism from perhaps a linguistic or regional perspective, as has been the case in so many instances in the 63 years our republic has been in existence. Nationalism means different things to different people. Any singular, rigidly imposed idea might actually destroy India.

History throws up evidence to suggest that a severe form of nationalism can create terrifying intolerance. Adolf Hitler was nothing if not fiercely nationalistic; but his Germany was hardly an example of tolerance even though it saw itself as ‘secular’.

India is an exceptional experiment in democratic nation building. No other nation exists with as much diversity of language, ethnic identity and religion jostling for national space within an overcrowded mass of 1.2 billion people. The attempt to build a democratic nation out of such diversity was not an option for our founding fathers. Tolerant democracy, which institutionally accepts and protects each of those diverse identities, was the only way forward if India were to succeed.

Similarly, secularism was not an option, no matter how we twist its definition. India was in its very essence the ‘non-Pakistan’. It was not to be defined by a single religious identity. It would house people of all faiths to demonstrate that diverse people could live together within a tolerant, democratic framework.

That’s why India has a population of Muslims almost as large as military-managed, Islamic Pakistan’s, but they live in a secular democracy. We can justly feel proud.

Fatwas produced by politicians cannot be used. Don’t practise the fatwas, they’re wrong and deviant, our faith will be distorted,” Muhyiddin 

Muslims nationwide should shun ‘PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang , Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today Islamization of campaign makes no sense while praising the government’s role in defending Islam.

The caretaker deputy prime minister had criticised Islamist party PAS President in 2001 for giving out deviant fatwas allegedly aimed at confusing the faith of Malays.

“If it is said who are the ones who fight for Islam and uphold important institutions in our country, surely it’s us: the chosen government, supported by citizens who love Islam,” he said.“‘Islamization’ means converting to Islam or ‘to make Islamic,’”

The undercurrent of racial religious tensions sweeping through Malaysia is gaining momentum. Unchecked and unrestrained by‘PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang  appearing to give in to their divisive demands,. The‘PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang   is playing politics by not reacting while the situation threatens to get out of hand. It will certainly not be a good thing for the country. So far, the minorities have been very restrained in reacting to these acts of personal transgression against their beliefs.

PKR kecewa terhadap kenyataan Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang yang menyifatkan sesetengah calon PKR bermasalah.

Presiden PAS pada ceramah di Kampung Tebakang di Marang malam tadi, berkata mengikut maklumat, mereka khuatir ada antara calon PKR menjadi pengedar pil kuda selain mendakwa ada calon yang meletakkan gambar pemimpin komunis seperti Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin dan Karl Marx di markas mereka.

Azan berkata kenyataan seumpama itu tidak seharusnya keluar, terutama daripada pemimpin tertinggi PAS.

“Politik matang negara harus kita pertahankan dan sekali gus menunjukkan teladan yang baik kepada rakyat Malaysia akan datang, dan mungkin ramai lagi pemimpin-pemimpin muda akan tampil dan kita harus meletakkan asas yang baik ketika berpolitik,” katanya.

Ketika calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani menyerahkan kertas pencalonannya di pusat penamaan calon di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Aminuddin Baki, kenangan di zaman persekolahan di situ kembali segar di ingatannya.

Johari, 49, yang juga Pengerusi Penyelaras BN Titiwangsa, berkata beliau merupakan anak jati Kampung Pandan yang menuntut di sekolah berkenaan dari 1977 hingga 1981.

Beliau berasa bangga dan terharu semasa menyerahkan borang penamaan calon kepada Pegawai Pengurus Pilihan Raya Abdul Halim Ismail di dewan sekolah itu untuk bertanding kerusi Parlimen Titiwangsa.

“Sekolah inilah yang menjadikan siapa saya hari ini. Daripada seorang anak kampung setinggan di Kampung Pandan sehingga menjadi ahli korporat.

“Antara kenangan yang tidak dapat saya lupakan ketika bersekolah di sini ialah rambut saya digunting oleh guru disiplin,” katanya kepada pemberita.

Selain Johari antara bekas pelajar sekolah tersebut termasuklah Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, Menteri Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani Datuk Seri Noh Omar, ahli korporat Tan Sri Rozali Ismail, tokoh budaya Profesor Dr Siti Zainon Ismail dan pengarah filem terkenal Datuk Yusof Haslam.

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Johari menambah beliau akan berkongsi pengalaman membesar di Kampung Pandan, berjaya dalam pelajaran dan penglibatan dalam dunia korporat untuk memberikan inspirasi kepada belia di kawasan Parlimen Titiwangsa untuk menjadi individu yang berjaya.

Parlimen Titiwangsa menyaksikan pertandingan satu lawan satu di antara Abdul Ghani dan calon Pas Ahmad Zamri Asa’ad Khuzaimi, seorang peguam.

Pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2008 calon Pas Allahyarham Dr Lo’ Lo’ Mohamad Ghazali memenangi kerusi Parlimen Titiwangsa apabila mengalahkan calon Barisan Nasional Datuk Aziz Jamaluddin Mohd Tahir dengan majoriti 1,972 undi. Beliau meninggal dunia pada Julai 2011.

What really irks me the most is that such people, despite your prompting them, reasoning with them or even pleading with them are predictable to a fault: they will have to speak as surely as night follows day every time they find themselves in such a situation, and will continue to speak till everyone else in the room shuts up or turns away in sheer frustration. Little do they realize (or perhaps care about) the impression they create through their determined, more often than not completely uncalled for verbal jousting. The next time the twain meet, the audience, if intelligent, is better prepared for the ensuing verbal duel and either completely ignores the person or walks away from the discussion with ‘its  perhaps better for all of us to fight another day’ writ large on their faces.

What worries, is that the number of such people that I seem to be bumping into – as I pass through life – seems to be increasing exponentially. I meet such people at work, in my professional circles, in the housing society, when I am on holiday and even at parent-teacher meetings. What such people fail to realize that this rarely helps accomplish anything other than create a fragile equilibrium that is disturbed by the slightest tremor.

Is the predictability of their behavior, and their desperate need to be heard a sign of their competitiveness, their intelligence or their mediocrity? Aren’t the brilliant supposed to be somewhat unpredictable and eccentric? Is this a reflection of some childhood insecurity – as my psychiatrist friends would say – when their parents never allowed them to get a word in edgeways? Or is this a veiled arrogance that makes them believe the world must sit and learn at their feet even when they know precious little about the subject at hand? Whatever the case may be, there is no denying that very few things infuriate a thinking person more than coming across or having to co-exist with such an individual in his / her immediate vicinity – a fact that is fast becoming the case in most walks of life.

The new DAP logo, if Guan Eng gets his way

 

UMNO and DAP: the mature and the immature

 By Steve Roads

Recent political events bring into sharp focus the fundamental differences in crisis management between DAP and Umno.

When DAP faced a slight predicament, it resorted to shedding tears and being emotional.

When UMNO faced a major upheaval, it just went ahead and re-invented itself.

Therein lies the difference between political immaturity and political maturity.

The DAP drama began to unfold recently when the Registrar of Societies announced the non-recognition of the party elections held in December last year for positions in its Central Executive Committee due to some discrepancies.

Incensed, Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng told the media yesterday: “The DAP CEC in its meeting tonight decided that RoS must revoke its letter not recognising the office-bearers in the CEC by 3pm tomorrow on Friday.”

(That is already a contradiction. How can an unrecognised committee meet? Surely such a meeting is illegal, and therefore its demand cannot have legitimacy or clout).

DAP stalwart and Lim’s father, Lim Kit Siang, was also there when Guan Eng spoke to the press. Kit Siang told the media: “I want to confess I shed tears.”

The younger Lim further confessed:“Many of our members shed tears. How do you explain to your voters?” DAP Chairman Karpal Singh also admitted to being emotional over the incident.

Compare DAP’s crisis response to UMNO’s crisis response.  UMNO faced a major challenge in 1987. In that year, the courts ruled that UMNO was an illegal organisation due to the existence of several unregistered branches. That was an offence under the Societies Act of 1966.

But UMNO leaders did not rave and rant about the court ruling. It did not hold a press conference and condemn the judge nor demand that the law be amended. They did bnot take to the streets.  Instead, under Tun Mahathir, a new party called UMNO BARU was registered. Over time, the BARU was dropped, and UMNO became whole again.

Apart from the differences in the approach of UMNO and DAP to challenges, let’s look at the DAP ‘grouse’ more closely. Guan Eng said that in issuing the letter dated April 17, 2013, just two days before nomination day, the ROS intended to “kill off DAP’s electoral prospects” in the general election.

He added:”..This is completely disgraceful, (DAP supporters will ) show their anger at the ballot box. We want BN to feel the anger of not just our supporters, but also right-thinking Malaysians,” he said

Slow down, Guan Eng, not so fast. What did you say about right-thinking Malaysians? Perhaps you were referring to non-thinking Malaysians.

Because all right-thinking Malaysians know that nobody is above the law. And that if the law is breached, the violator must either pay the penalty.

All right-thinking Malaysians know it is wrong to place one’s own infractions before the feet of UMNO.

All right-thinking Malaysians know it is wrong to shoot from the hip. The complaints of wrongdoing did not come from outside but they all came from party members.  Are you saying, Guan Eng, that some party members are more equal than others? That ROS should ignore the complaints from some members and listen only to those who are close and dear to you?

It is clear Guan Eng, you are blinded by rage and arrogance. You have shown that you have little respect for the law of the land, even less respect for your party constitution and no respect at all for your ordinary members.

Surely they will show their anger at the ballot box–at your expense.

In the fall of 2009 I took a class at Harvard called “Making of a Politician.” The four-month class was taught by one of the lead campaign managers for the American Democratic Party and focused on the dos and don’t of winning an election. The primary dos, according to the Professor (who had multiple electoral victories in his portfolio) were the following:

When running for election a candidate needs to (primarily):

1. Build a narrative about your life (something that focuses on how you rose from the bottom up).
2. Perfect this story and learn it like the back of your hand
3. Repeat this story every where you go (especially to media channels and any rally you address)
4. If someone tries to deter you from your ‘message’ aka story above, just find a way to repeat it, using different words.

Note: This is the backbone of any successful campaign.

If Narendra Modi took this class, he would be a topper. His message is simple “I have built Gujarat from the ground up (similar to his own story), and now I want to move this from Gujarat’s success story to India’s success story.” Rather than highlighting examples from across the spectrum he picks and chooses his narrative carefully. He speaks about economic development (echoing the Gujarati entrepreneurial spirit) and infrastructure development. In order to woo the female vote, he even throws in how he has helped women progress. He doesn’t overwhelm his audience with too many examples of success but instead chooses to go in to intricate detail for the few. His topics don’t stretch too far out unless asked specifically (like speaking about health indicators or wage parity). He sticks to his story, repeats when needed and does not deter from it.

If Rahul Gandhi on the other hand, took this class, he wouldn’t fair as well. Rahul unfortunately has his message all over the place. From buzzing bees at the CII conference to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in election rallies, he has a host of topics to choose from and he chooses them all. Partly this issue arises because his political voyage has been inconsistent. When he was his forties he emerged as a leader in Congress’s youth wing, then he started getting in to the parties core work without much history or credibility. Soon he was leading charge in the UP election. Now he is in the 2014 election team. He makes an effort to portray himself as a man of the grassroots but belongs to the top echelon of Indian society. Rahul needs to get his story straight and concise. In fact, most political leaders, in addition to Modi, have already down this (perhaps intuitively)

If you notice how most political leaders address development to win voters confidence, then you will see that they are often focused on four core areas: infrastructure, employment creation, women’s empowerment and accountability/government efficiency. Rarely will you hear speeches about progress in education on improvement in healthcare. There is an implicit assumption amongst the political class that people are concerned about only infrastructure or employment over education or health.

The class I took at Harvard was four years ago though. A lot has changed in politics. We were taught four years ago that sticking to you message was important in speeches but political communication world is no longer limited to speeches. You now have twitter, facebook, sms, mms, 24/7 news media and so much more. Maybe in this changing world the Gandhi approach of picking all topics is better than the Modi approach of sticking to the story? Only time will tell…

A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again.

Fired at first sight with what the muse imparts,

In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts,

While from the bounded level of our mind,

Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind;

But more advanced, behold with strange surprise

New distant scenes of endless science rise!

So pleased at first the towering Alps we try,

Mount o’er the vales and seem to tread the sky,

The eternal snows appear already pass’d,

And the first clouds and mountains seem the last:

But, those attain’d, we tremble to survey

The growing labours of the lengthen’d way,

The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,

Hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

-          Alexander Pope

BN’s Lembah Pantai candidate Raja Nong Chik political communication  in Election 2013t

See the mess that is TTDI today.Of course the Federal Territory Minister has abandoned his duties to strengthen his bid to BULLY Nurul.It becomes apparent that this same situation would befall the residents of Lembah Pantai, especially upmarket Bangsar should they reject the incumbent Nurul for the UMNO cucumber.Many have asked Anwar to put Nurul in a safe seat where she does not have to fight against any moneybags. He did give her the choice and her reply is vintage NuruThe people of Lembah Pantai ARE my people and I will do battle for them.

Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin today slammed news portalMalaysiakini for allegedly twisting facts about his involvement in an offshore company, RZA International Corporation.Tell us, Raja Nong Chik, how much of our money is sitting in your bank account? Would Raja Nong Chik please explain how his family make its millions? Hopefully not another cronyism or cow-shit story.we think the question that is begs for an answer is why would anyone want to set up their business affairs through an offshore route in a tax haven overseas unless they obviously wanted to evade or avoid tax or circumvent normal scrutiny and procedures in their own country of residence?

Yeah right! “Malaysiakini for allegedly twisting facts” but you twisting when you used your gangters to throw stones at  Nurul Izzah  Skeletons spilling out from his closet. Pity the closet. Hang him by the balls. Simple solution to your ‘problem’ – declare your assets just as Nurul Izzah has done  If you didn’t do it why explain? The truth will prevail right?We think this information is good enough for our Inland Revenue Dept to investigate the tax returns of Raja Nong Chik and his family for the past ten years. And Mahathir should immediately tell his son, Mirzan to come out to explain his offshore accounts. And don’t forget Michael Chia too. IRD, over to you. This ambitious man wants to represent possibly one of the affluent constituencies but does not realise that a substantial of the residents are well informed and educated lot. The voters will demand for public servants to be more transparent and accountable. Dodgy character wont do !The people of Lembah Pantai will choose between a well-heeled crony scumbag with a dubious past and a young incorruptible Malaysian woman who truly represents the best of the future

 This is legitimised gangster democracy. The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (City Hall) have plenty to answer if there is change of government after May 5, 2013. They think that they are helping UMNO-BN but actually they are antagonising the people of Bangsar in Lembah Pantai Parliamentary Constituency, where we will see a hotly contested race between Nurul Izzah Anwar of Pakatan Rakyat and Raja Nong Chik (above) of UMNO-Barisan Nasional.

One Facebook posting delighted in BN’s Lembah Pantai candidate Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin’s ad listing his glowing achievements in the area of drain repairs.
The billboard screams Nong Chik’s “1Malaysia Lembah Pantai Achievements” and proudly boasts three drains in the Bangsar area that the incumbent Federal Territories minister has upgraded or repaired.

Nong Chik has made it a campaign theme against the incumbent PKR parliamentarian Nurul Izzah Anwar, to ask what she had done for her constituents.

However, he ducked Nurul’s challenge in February for a face-to-face debate to clear the air.

Dozens of netizens ridiculed Nong Chik’s ad, with one asking where their DBKL contributions have gone if the minister has to claim credit for the drain works.

“Forgive him. That’s what BN can offer… a Longkang MP that is,” sneered another commentator on the social networking site, while one quipped, “Only drains? No other (achievements)?”

The stupid dog bit me so I caught it, tied its legs to a stone and threw it into the sea,” said the taxi-driver, in his alcoholic stupor. I was left appalled. The man made that senseless quip to me when he saw me look below parked cars, inside building compounds calling out for Frisky – a brownish-black pariah who had moved into my lane on one noisy Diwali night a year back when he fled like those hundreds of strays petrified with the festive cacophony and bolt onto busy roads to either get killed in accidents or in fights with other territorial Alpha dogs. Frisky was lucky. The lane has its share of dog-lovers who stood up for him each time someone attacked him with a cricket bat, once even with a screw-driver plunged straight into his back by a hater who crept onto him as he sat unaware, wagging his tail to a friendly stranger.

This time around, Frisky named for the perpetual spunk with which he ran about the lane, was missing for over a full day. And, that was uncommon. Something was amiss. He always responded to someone’s whistle, another’s shout often to the jingle of my home keys. “Why did you do that? Why would he bite you? He’s a friendly dog and would never attack anyone,” I offered to him. “I would feed him…even play with him…and this time, when I was simply playing with him, he scratched my arm…I had to teach him a lesson. If he does manage to get free and come back, I’ll kill him,” said the drunken taxi-driver, by now affronted with my needling.

And then, he shut up and walked away to pour himself another drink. Making coherent conversation with him was difficult not because of the alcohol that had impaired his speech, it was because of his skewed logic that a stray’s life was dispensable just because it had ‘dared’ to scratch his arm.
I could have filed a police complain under a relevant section of the Indian Penal Code that made it illegal to maim or cause injury to any  animal. That would have fulfilled the need for plain and simple retribution for the act but not tackled the real issue. The issue was one of inclusion – a concept that’s alien to huge sections of society and hugely at threat. The taxi-driver, like millions of others, feel enabled to act upon personal whim and fancy because they ‘feed a dog sometimes,” much like being enabled to hit one’s wife just because he “takes care of her.” I didn’t file a police complaint. Not because, I couldn’t …but because I felt that it would cause more harm towards the cause rather than good. I felt that if I could make the change, it would be much better than simply using a statute to avenge.

Notions of law and justice apart, there is the need for education and awareness towards inclusion. The law has, for years now, been providing ‘equal justice’ to all…and directive principles and fundamental duties suggest citizens care for and tend to animals, birds, plants and all wildlife. Penal laws such as the Indian Penal Code and Animal Welfare Laws lay down directives to punish one who harms but, the key to achieving justice is in changing a mindset…mostly through gentle persuasion modes such as education, familial socialization. A mindset is developed from the learning one gets since childhood and through one’s lives that there is the need to do the right, even if it’s harder and more difficult. It isn’t about hurting an animal…it’s about hurting someone weaker than you…because you think you can get away with it!

Somewhere down the line, I felt the taxi-driver, himself, regretted his action. Frisky was just so lovable and he, when in his senses, wasn’t that bad either. But that boy in him simply couldn’t take responsibility for his own action and express regret. It takes a bigger man to do that, we know. So, when a flurry of us – dog-lovers spread out in the locality to look for Frisky should he have returned – he beat a quiet retreat to his home and watched…from a distance.

The love for an animal is the truest of them all, I’d say. It is, truly, unconditional. So, somewhere down the line, it happened. The next morning, while on one of the several searches at a nearby locality, I found Frisky. He stood with his ears all perked up, wagging his tail, looking frantically for me…long before I could actually reach him. He could sense he was found…and so could I. With uncontrolled raptures, his little body quivered as he leapt all over me, licking me and barking incessantly…telling me all about the ordeal he had suffered…all by himself. He had managed to free himself.

Frisky came back home that morning…to a string of treats by all and sundry. Now, a copywriter – also a friend of Frisky – bathes him and cares for him at times during the day…even feeds him ‘in’ his home following which the dog spreads out for a luxurious nap during noon. A dog-lover home-maker drops in every morning to play with him and feed him his daily dose of chips. Another spirited family, like those scores, gets mutton for him off and on. A Muslim contractor who took personal umbrage at his displacement even offered to adopt him and keep him for good; despite, his personal religious compulsion that disfavors dealing with canines.

The lane has unofficially adopted Frisky as common property as he always was. The taxi-driver got more than an earful from everyone who got to know of his act…and everyone did. Frisky, on his part, is thrilled with his newly-found freedom. True to his nature, he went straight back to the taxi-driver – by now ashamed as hell for his act – leaping at him with joy as if nothing had happened only to sit at his feet and guard him. The man was stronger…but Frisky had won. And, that is the true story of a dog – one of those hundreds you see lying about on the streets of India each time you walk by as they wait for a small morsel, a kind glance, a soft word, a pat on the back…a chance to be included into your life. Stop…look!

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has demanded that PAS president Hadi Awang explain his allegation in a Youtube video that the Islamic party cannot cooperate with a “Marxist” party. PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said that Hadi’s statement alluded to PSM even if he did not mention it by name. “We want to ask, is Hadi (right) referring to us? If so, please show us the evidence (that PSM is Marxist),” he told a press conference in Kota Damansara

None of the mainstream political parties, including the secular groups, has promised to eliminate or at least enervate the influence of political Islam. No party manifesto envisions the separation of religion from politics and the affairs of the state. Malaysia’s democratic institutions are willingly offering enormous space and unquestionable concessions to Islam in everyday life. I have always believed that mixing up religion with politics is Pakistan’s greatest tragedy in Malaysia

There are three critical areas where PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG needs immediate improvement in order to become  the next prime minister state. Islamization is the last thing that will help PAS to achieve stability, progress and prosperity. Any future government that gives in to the Islamists or helps the youth achieve their desired Islamic form of governance or encourages the influence of religion over democratic institutions will significantly increase Malaysian’s woes.:  Malaysia has come under tremendous national and international criticism   for the appalling state of human rights. Without containing the influence of state policies tolerant of violence in the name of religion and operations by the non-state actors,  PAS will constantly risk its religious and sectarian minorities.All political parties must commit to internal stability (leading to economic growth), respect for human rights and a balanced foreign policy. In order to accomplish that, PAS  must secularize its democratic institutions. Without sticking to these goals,PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG  cannot find a road-map to stability. Elections should change policies, not only the regimes. Policy overhaul is precisely what  Malaysian, on its part, requires at this juncture for its survival.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has demanded that PAS president Hadi Awang explain his allegation in a Youtube video that the Islamic party cannot cooperate with a “Marxist” party.

PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said that Hadi’s statement alluded to PSM even if he did not mention it by name.

“We want to ask, is Hadi (right) referring to us? If so, please show us the evidence (that PSM is Marxist),” he told a press conference in Kota Damansara.

PSM president Nasir Hashim expressed disappointment on Hadi’s statement.

“We are saddened by this baseless allegation. The Quran says defamation is more cruel than killing.”

In the video posted byTerengganukini, Hadi, in an unnamed location, said PAS was involved in seat overlapping with PKR in order rescue Pakatan Rakyat from a repetition of 2009 Perak crisis.

He also said some candidates were suspected to be drug dealers although he did not reveal any names. “How can they be candidates?” he asked.

“Some candidates have portraits of (Vladimir) Lenin, (Joseph) Stalin and (Karl) Marx, how can PAS support them? PAS is cooperating with PKR and DAP, not with the party of Lenin, Stalin and other Marxists,” he continued.

“How can our party members work under the portrait of Marx? Marx is the prophet of Russians and believed in communism. This is forbidden in Malaysia.”

Asked if Hadi should retract the statement and apologise, Nasir said Hadi should be a gentleman and retract the statement.

contentious issue is the move by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to try and usher in a future where the Islamic way of life becomes a part of every day life in Malaysia. PAS says they are willing to discuss the issue, but the implementation of the Hudud law is a matter beyond question and not up for negotiation or debate of any kind.

Despite disagreement with its partners over this, it has started pushing for the implementation of hudud in the state of Kelantan which it had been ruling for the last 20 years. Several Islamic practices are already in place there.

It says hudud would address a multitude of issues affecting Muslims. However, the non-Muslims fear that there will be long-term direct and indirect effect on them although on the surface it is meant only for the Muslims.

The opposition alliance is now in a bit of a fix over this – supporting the plan will mean losing non-Muslim votes while opposing it will see a backlash from Muslim voters. Depending on how the opposition alliance handles this issue, it will affect not only the thinking of Muslim voters but also the stand of the fence-sitters and new voters.

BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak today attempted to douse the anger over Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin’s disparaging remarks about Hindus, claiming that Indians have now warmed up to him.

“There are Indians who have even kissed him already,” Najib said, adding that he endorsed Zulkifli’s (right) candidacy for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.

“Forget about the remarks he has made. He has apologised. Let it be,” the caretaker prime minister said in Shah Alam as he stressed that the statements were made when Zulkifli was part of a “backward” party.

He claimed that Zulkifli has vowed to take care of the welfare of Indians in the constituency.

“Indians want temples, schools. He told me he wants to get them what they want,” Najib added.

He was speaking during a walkabout campaign in Kota Raja and Shah Alam earlier today.

At a press conference in a hotel in Shah Alam later, Najib went on to say that the Selangor government’s demolition of an altar in Sepang recently was more serious than Zulkifli’s remarks.

“That’s 1,000 times more serious than what Zulkifli said ten years ago. That (demolition) is a bigger slap for the Indians,” he said.

He said the matter of Zulkifli’s qualification to be fielded as a candidate under BN should not be raised further.

“It’s history. In fact he is already championing Indian issues,” he said.

He also said that Zulkifli left Pakatan Rakyat in 2010 because the former was asked to “slander” Najib by his party.

“But he is a man of principles. That is why he left them,” he added.

The three main categories of extremist aggressors are listed below, and usually one is the primary element with an offender, with at least one other playing a secondary supporting role:

. The Ideologically Motivated (Religious, Political or Hybrid)

. The Psychologically Dangerous (Sociopath or Cognitively Impaired)

. Personal Benefit or Revenge

One of the most fascinating, if not disturbing, aspects of the change in the terrorist threat in recent years has been the emergence of a diverse, yet very small group of radical Salafists in the United States, who are radicalized through a process that can include such factors as peer influence either in personal relationships or through the Internet and social media. Unconfirmed news reports state that Dzhokar Tsarnaev has a laptop and is communicating over social media while at large. Salafist Muslims follow an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam that they believe was adopted by the initial followers of the faith. While al-Qaeda’s overseas leadership, operational capacity and affiliates faced significant attacks abroad over the past decade, a diverse ragtag group of radicals undertook numerous potentially fatal, though mostly unsuccessful plots in the United States.

“Al-Qaida and its affiliates understand the Western world’s reliance on information sharing and use of technology to communicate. They are increasingly using the Internet to manipulate the grievances of alienated youth, radicalize them, and give them a sense of purpose. Al-Qaida encourages homegrown terrorism, and through the use of propaganda messages and information found on the Internet and transmitted through social media, more individuals have access to information and materials to carry out “lone wolf” operations against Western targets.”

In 2011 Bergen, Hoffman and Tiedemann explained:

“A key shift in the past couple of years is the increasingly prominent role in planning and operations that U.S. citizens and residents have played in the leadership of Al Qaeda and aligned groups, and the higher numbers of Americans attaching themselves to these groups. Another development is the increasing diversification of the types of U.S.-based jihadist militants, and the groups with which those militants have affiliated. Indeed, these jihadists do not fit any particular ethnic, economic, educational, or social profile.”

While there is both agreement and debate as to both the causes and definitions of radicalization, the following definition is useful: “Functionally, political radicalization is increased preparation for and commitment to intergroup conflict. Descriptively, radicalization means change in beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in directions that increasingly justify intergroup violence and demand sacrifice in defense of the ingroup.”

Important debate also exists on the extent that psychological factors, as opposed to sociological ones play in formation of radicalization: “Radicalization has been approached as a psycho-social process of gradual progress from context, to thought, and finally to action. Hence, it requires micro (individual) and macro (societal/cultural) examination of context-specific variables to explain causation.”

Irrespective of where one falls on that issue, the emergence of a residentially American, yet Salafist orientation in social media as well as in small circles of personal relationships created a tiny subculture where a small number of committed individuals went from mere discussion to violent plotting.

With the unfolding developments we simply do not know enough about what influenced these brothers into radicalization and exactly where they got their expertise or developed their hatreds. Oftentimes personal setbacks and estrangement from community norms, psychological issues, and the influence of others can impact the path to radicalization.

Much speculation revolves around the fact that the brothers are ethnic Muslim Chechens from the Caucasus region where an intermittent, yet bloody conflict has existed for the last two decades, but nationalist sentiment has existed far longer than that. However, Chechens’ main target has been Russia not the United States, and while they are Muslim, their conflict has been as much if not more a nationalistic one. After a bloody civil war broke out in 1994 where Chechens tried to gain independence Russia prevailed. Since then some of the most spectacular terrorist attacks in recent history have been committed against Russian targets by Chechen nationalists, many of whom are women. Among the targets have been trains, apartment buildings, a theater, airplanes and a school. A siege at a theater in Moscow in 2002 resulted in the deaths of 130 hostages and dozens of assailants after authorities used gas. In Beslan, Russia, over three hundred died in a school massacre in 2004. As the story unfolds we simply do not know how much idiosyncratic reasons played versus other motivations such as religious or political in the recent violence in the Boston area.

PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar faces a tough challenger in minister Raja Datuk Nong Chik Zainal Abidin of Barisan Nasional to retain the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat.

Today’s  Malaysiansider talks about  in an unauthorized manneris that  UMNO are on a self-chosen path to self-destruction. The Lembah Pantai voter must be watching  and wondering if democracy is indeed  UMNO  fractured political set-up. Equally, .

. It goes on to suggest that credibility of UMNO’s policies and in fact on Kuala Lumpur’s future itself is bound to be disastrous.

The billion ringgit question of this campaign is how much is being spent in the 2013 general election campaign and who is paying for it?

So, is there a case for going back to the old ways, preserving Deception and launching a full-scale onslaught at the voters? Don’t be surprised if method eventually becomes more important than madness again. After all, Raja Nong Chik has never been more serious than now.in the current context of the controversy created about…The details of this futile rearguard action are well known to those who are tuned to the political grapevine. Political messaging holds the key to   Nurul’s  campaign. There has to be a dominant theme that touches voters in every corner of To all Lembah Pantai folks, you have to view the big picture. Don’t fall for all these short – term goodies. Apparently, from this article, many simple minded folks have fell into BN’s trap. Obviously, FT Minister RNC under BN controls all financial resources, while Nurul had been denied her financial allocation all these years. Very unfair indeed!!! All this assistance by RNC is just to win the election only. Remember, if you grant Raja Nong Chik a win in the 13th GE, all the assistance will definitely stop.

Please don’t be taken in by visits to the market. I went to Canning Garden market on the second day of Chinese new year. there was a big crowd at the entrance. They waved me aside and was only concentrating on the Chinese. They were wearing the BN blue and had video cameras and they were stopping the Chinese shoppers, carrying their bags and taking photographs. I am not Chinese so I was told to move aside. That is the truth. The truth lies in the past 56 years of what you have seen and experienced. Not in the money they hand out and the promises that they make now. Listen to your heart and hear the truth. Change.

Nurul Izzah told  that her she stands firm by her record, and that her activities are all recorded on her blog and her website.

“We do what we can and I believe he should really be ashamed for being responsible and blocking my access,” she said, alleging the advantage Nong Chik has over her as Federal Territories minister.

“I’m not concerned at all because you’re talking about a minister who has been abusing government resources. And you know, it’s important that people understand to a large extent he is the man responsible for DBKL and if the service is not up to par, he should be blamed.”

Responding to Nurul Izzah’s call that he and Rusli declare all their financial assets, Nong Chik said, “I have already declared to the prime minister. Ask her father to declare his assets.”

He also dismissed any challenge Rusli might pose to his candidacy, saying, “I think the fight is between the two of us (Nurul Izzah).”

Several Lembah Pantai voters who The Malaysian Insider spoke to at the market seemed to indicate that it would be a close fight between the two candidates.

One Malay father in his thirties, a resident of Flat Bukit Angkasa, said that he would vote for Nong Chik in the upcoming elections because he had brought a lot of change to the surrounding area, such as installing air-conditioning in the flat’s surau and subsidising new facilities so residents only have to contribute a small amount.

However, a 30-year-old Malay mother who works in a cafe said that as a first-time voter, she would be voting for Nurul Izzah as a fellow woman and because she does not agree with some of the things BN does.

“I have never asked Raja Nong Chik for help. I never applied for BR1M because I feel that’s like bribery,” she said.

She also said that Nong Chik liked to “tunjuk hebat”, but admits that he comes to the area often to spend time with the people.

The heat is on for the 13th general elections, especially in the political battleground of Lembah Pantai, as PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar and Umno’s Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin jockeyed for the hearts and minds of voters in a low-cost housing area in Pantai Dalam yesterday.

At a walkabout around the Kampung Kerinchi pasar malam, the incumbent Lembah Pantai MP and the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister took turns greeting shoppers and stall owners, entourage in tow, without crossing paths.

“This is where I come from. My opponent is only using this as a base. For me, this is my home, do or die I’m here,” Nong Chik told reporters, beaming as he shook hands with market-goers, accompanied by his wife Datin Nafesah Raja Nong Chik.

He seemed to be confident of the community’s support as he weaved briskly through the market, stopping traffic to shake hands with people driving by in their cars, and even pausing to holler and wave at residents looking out of their high-rise flat windows.

PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar posing for pictures with market-goers.

Later, when he had left the scene, Nurul Izzah arrived and handed out a plethora of items: her blue candidate name card, a flyer directed at women with the slogan “Wanita Dihargai”, and Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) ubiquitous cartoon manifesto.

As Nong Chik acknowledges that the voters he needs to woo are the middle- and upper-middle-class Bangsarians, so Nurul Izzah admits she needs to win over voters in low-income areas.

“Yes, he’s strong here because he’s created this ecosystem of those subservient to financial renumeration, but does it mean that everyone will fall for it? No,” she said, referring to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s People’s 1 Malaysia Aid (BR1M) annual handouts for low-income families.

“Certainly, in their plight right now, the short-term solution is of course provided by Umno… But there has been no meaningful change in the increase of wages in the last 10 years, and they have failed to improve people’s opportunities to get a better life,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

“I think he’s addressing their current needs but we are trying to showcase that for three terms, BN had the opportunity to change lives in Lembah Pantai but they only started improving their services post-Pakatan win,” she said.

Nong Chik did not hand out any informational titbits or promise any ceramahs, which seemed to be in line with his view that his work in Kampung Kerinchi has been done and is self-evident.

When asked about Nurul Izzah’s challenge to him and Independent candidate Rusli Baba for a public debate after nominations yesterday, he told The Malaysian Insider, “No need to debate anymore. Only two weeks left, what more is there to debate? She always wants to debate that’s why she doesn’t do any work.”

“If she has done work, for five years not five months, record should have. Show it to us and compare with what BN has done, right?”

Watch this space?

Nong Chik love traffic jams

Kuala Lumpur “Tut-tut,” goes my neighbour, Ms X. “Imagine, we were stuck in a wretched traffic jam for more than 25 minutes! The traffic lights weren’t working, the policeman was nowhere to be seen, and life came to a halt. I tell you, what a waste of time!” And so she spent the next 20 minutes hyper-ventilating over her ruined morning, in the process using up 20 minutes of my time as well. I consoled myself  (and her) by thanking God that at least, no one whipped out a pistol and fired shots that could have killed lives. Remember, the Capital is infamous, among other things, for its highly volatile road rage prone owner-drivers.

But most of all, we need to make the last mile connectivity better, especially for cyclists and pedestrians. Otherwise, many of us have forgotten what it is like to walk on our roads, and I will give an anecdote here.

Walking from my home along Ring Road, I was crossing one of the side roads, when a huge SUV came barreling upon me, horn blaring, lights flashing. I am big built, stocky, there were three of us, and the car was not going that fast that we would get hurt, so we simply stopped in its path, till it came to a halt. The driver got tough, but that’s not the real issue – so did the educated couple in the back seat.

What we did is another blog entry, or maybe I will let readers guess, but that is the larger issue. Anywhere else in the civilised world, the pedestrian and cyclist get primary concern and right of way, and public transport gets the next highest priority. In India, we all know, that it is the other way around.

But matters are changing. Around 3.5 to 4 million public transport trips in Delhi, bus, train and metro, is a lot of voters. Add to that the growing number of cyclists. And cycle rickshaws.

Mark my words – this will be solved only when it becomes an electoral issue. And that is happening. And requires just a little bit of help, direction, push. Ofcourse, you won’t hear about such matters in long winded speeches given at 5-star hotels to industry stalwarts. But guess who was in the back of that SUV and apologised profusely, when he saw the crowd building up in seconds around his car.

As FT Minister, Raja Nong Chik is responsible for attending to the relevant needs of the people within FT and has included under him Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to assist him in performing his duties.

Exactly how well has he performed in discharging his duties?

One would reasonably expect that with him living in TTDI and thus being present there regularly, if not daily, he would ensure that TTDI is well-managed by the authorities that answer to him, principally DBKL.

Seeing him always smiling one would think he is pleased with his performance.

I was however appalled during a recent visit to TTDI to visit an aunt, to find that TTDI is poorly managed.

There are illegal stalls operating everywhere and I understand from residents there that this has been going on for ages, with the authorities turning a ‘blind eye’ to them.

Rumour has it that some DBKL personnel are on a ‘retainer basis’ with these stall-holders and hence no action is taken against these stall-holders, despite many complaints by residents.

Illegal stalls

Some (repeat, some) of the numerous illegal stalls found in TTDI along pedestrian paths and back lanes.

Why is this so, Nong Chik?

Are there those on the take?

There is a dire shortage of parking lots for motorists and to compound matters many of these illegal stalls operate from parking lots, thus reducing the number of available parking lots for motorists. They operate from the same parking lots each day without any hindrance from DBKL.

Why the dereliction of duty, Nong Chik?

Parking lots

Typical daily scenes of several TTDI parking lots.

Chaotic parking

Parking has become so chaotic in TTDI that motorists park so haphazardly and in an inconsiderate manner and yet hardly any action is taken by the authorities.

Why, Nong Chik?

Double-parking throughout the day just 50 metres from DBKL’s branch office at TTDI.

Vehicles parked right around a junction causing a danger to others.

Vehicles parked along the pedestrian pavement, forcing pedestrians onto the road. Incidentally, the jeep belongs to the Jabatan Hasil Dalam Negeri with “Hasil” painted on its side.

Back-lanes full of illegally-parked vehicles. How will Bomba gain access in the event of fire, Nong Chik?

Even a DBKL van is parked at a bus stop.

Illegal banners

Illegal banners pinned to trees seem to enjoy immunity. Clearly this is wrong, Nong Chik!

Scenes of uncollected rubbish

Heck, even those involved in less than savoury activities get to promote themselves.

See the stencilled graffiti for massage services, Nong Chik?

Now, Nong Chik, seriously, should you not give priority to these matters, for which you are paid by the rakyat, rather than have spent the last few years campaigning at Lembah Pantai to take on Nurul Izzah?

Remember, responsibility and duty should come first before ambition.

At best I will give you a ‘D’ on your report card.

A residents’ initiative planting coloured flags to support Nurul Izzah Anwar is now part of the incumbent Lembah Pantai MP’s campaign to defend her seat against Umno strongman Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal.

Miniature blue, white, and red flags — the PKR vice-president’s party colours — as well as electoral reform group Bersih’s bright yellow were planted at a Bangsar roundabout as part of residents’ “Malaysian Spring” campaign for political change over the weekend.

But the same group had to stand up to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers who had plucked the “flowers” hours later on Sunday, citing transgression of city by-laws.

The residents later replanted the flags, after criticising the City Hall officers for ignoring similar transgressions by Nong Chik’s Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign officials with their billboards and flags.

Nurul Izzah said the idea to make the “Malaysian Spring” as part of her campaign came after “one of the residents called me and said, ‘We’re going to fight for this place’.”

“Then the suggestion came from resident lawyers — they said one of the ways to mitigate this is to adopt it formally as part of my campaign material. So if you (DBKL) would like to remove them (the flags), you first and foremost have to remove the other paraphernalia belonging to Barisan Nasional,” the 32-year-old lawmaker told The Malaysian Insider.

Nurul Izzah — the eldest daughter of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — is facing interim federal territories and urban wellbeing minister Nong Chik in the May 5 polls, the second minister she is contesting against after defeating then-women, family and community development minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in Election 2008.

Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin today slammed news portalMalaysiakini for allegedly twisting facts about his involvement in an offshore company, RZA International Corporation.Tell us, Raja Nong Chik, how much of our money is sitting in your bank account? Would Raja Nong Chik please explain how his family make its millions? Hopefully not another cronyism or cow-shit … Read more
Throughout the country, voters are already reporting early efforts to woo the electorate such as special grocery vouchers of RM300 in Sandakan and handouts of RM50 to attend a Umno meeting in Tanjong Malim, among many others.

The promise of more goodies on the way is being repeated over and over, from the symbolic extension and increase of BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) to more general ‘assistance’.

The use of electoral incentives is well-known and honed, but there is a fundamental shift in the overall pattern this time round. Scholars such as Universiti Sains Malaysia emeritus professor Francis Loh have described the electioneering pattern as from one of patronage to ‘developmentalism’, where voters have moved from relying on everyday personal ties and relations with politicians to the promise of development projects.

In this election, a new pattern of commercialisation has emerged, where the ‘You help me, I help you’ and ‘Let’s make a deal’ mantras are framing the campaign in what is crassly an economic exchange.

The base money flows, materialism and expensive brand marketing in GE13 cannot be understated, as they represent the dominant strategic mode of BN’s campaign.

Najib’s RM58bil election primer

Incumbent Prime Minister Najib Razak has systematically adopted this strategy since taking office in April 2009.

He knew he inherited a difficult terrain, and more importantly, he would need to win seats. In the four years before he dissolved parliament to get his own mandate, he engaged in arguably the most expensive election primer in Southeast Asia, and by far the most expensive in Malaysian history.

Gleaned from over 4,000 news reports since April 2009 and a study of the three budgets/supplemental budgets (2010-2013), I conservatively estimate that his administration has spent a total of RM57.6 billion from after he took over as PM to just before the dissolution of parliament on election-related incentives.

(The primary sources of these electoral-related pledges are from national news agency Bernama.)

The two main components of this largess are politically targeted distributions and 1Malaysia spending. These measures are inherently political as not only are they framed as political tools, they are being openly been touted as a reason to support the BN at the voting booth.

As shown in the table, the main share of the election primer is not BR1M in the overall 1Malaysia programmes – this only amounted to RM5.6 billion – but other measures including salary increases and targeted populist initiatives in areas such as school construction from money administered through the PM’s Office.

Targeted items include money to taxi drivers, repeated allocations for fisher folks, special allocations for the Danga development project in Johor, a rice subsidy for Orang Asli, special settlement for housing in Hulu Selangor, tricycle 50 percent subsidy support for those in agribusiness, subsidised discounts for students on trains, solar energy subsidies and so much more.

The estimate excludes money spent on special infrastructure projects, which have the spillover of government contracts. These have increased, especially in the defence sector.

Please note that this spending only captures public spending, and excludes the non-transparent donations of mass dinners, entertainers and use of jets provided free by government-linked private businessmen.

I also exclude the repeated announcements of treating different communities to a meal and drink, as the reports are only the tip of the iceberg for this funding. This estimate, and this is only what it can be seen to be an estimate, also does not fully capture the spending by the BN-linked 1Malaysia NGOs, whose funding sources remain ambiguous.

BN spends RM4,363 per voter 

The most politically affiliated programmes involve 1Malaysia. Some of the highlights are provided in the table.

This estimate should be treated with some degree of caution. Many of these projects are legitimate spending on the part of the government, as they focus on basic needs. The use of cash transfers, moreover, is a common tool to address inequalities.

Nevertheless, what distinguishes these measures from earlier development spending is that rather than be included as part of ‘development’ strategy or development budget, they are part of a campaign strategy administered through the prime minister, whose main purpose is to return the incumbent coalition to office.

They are short-term tools aiming to please voters and gain their support at the polls. They are like items placed near the cash register at the convenience stores, such as sweets, to make you feel good and buy them, but they are often quickly used up and many are not actually good for you.
Most of these measures are also framed under the Najib-linked slogan of 1Malaysia. They are branded with an explicit tie to the caretaker premier. And given the amount of Malaysian taxpayers’ money spent, they are not cheap.

To put in another way, the estimate suggested that the Najib administration has spent an estimated RM4,363 per voter so far. This is by far the most expensive election primer in Malaysian history. Given that money has been allocated to different candidates for the campaign, more money is coming.

Another defining feature of this spending pattern is the use of targeting. There is a clear orientation to find potential groups of voters, identify their immediate needs, and provide it.

Some of my favourite initiatives include those for teachers, fisher folks and young people. Others are narrower, geographically located. If Najib found a group with a legitimate demand, he would try to fill it. It would not matter if you were Hindraf or a Chinese school.

All of this is part of a ‘let’s make a deal’ BN electoral mantra. The modus operandi is similar to that in Umno elections, only this time the pattern of vote buying is extended nationally, with the use of public money to fund the exercise.

‘Zaman duit’ for voters

The bottom line in the BN’s strategy is that it assumes Malaysians can be bought, and that their main motivation is driven by money. This obsession with materialism is a remnant of the Mahathir Mohamad era, where it is assumed that a person’s worth is judged by how many houses they own, the cars, or the latest model of smart phones.

‘Money politics’ is deeply ingrained in Umno. It is also assumed that the dominant paradigm is accruing wealth. They have appeared to have forgotten about the importance of morality and basic principles. Do they not see other needs for society? Do they really think that all Malaysians care about is money?

At the core, they mistakenly conceptualise Malaysians as driven by greed. They are transposing their own values and behaviour on the public.

This is not to say that money does not matter. Over and over across Malaysia, people describe this period as ‘zaman duit’, especially the young. There is recognition of the difficulties of the majority to make ends meet. This is practiced in everyday decisions such as the choice of restaurant to eat, what to buy at the market and where to send your child to university.

Young people struggle with the high cost of housing, while elderly worry about whether their pensions can cover their needs in their old age and whether their grandchildren will have the opportunities they had.

Yes, Malaysians do worry, and the aim of the cash handouts is to offer temporary relief and in that haze of temporary-flushed finances, they will reward the giver. However, polls have shown that this has had a diminishing effect over time, and the time is ticking since the last BR1M, but BN hopes that come May 5, the giving will have its impact at the polls.

Najib’s programmes are geared toward this ‘zaman duit’, as are many of the opposition’s proposals. Yet, there are three important differences in Najib’s programme. For BN, there is a more calculated aim of using everyday economic challenges for political advantage.

This can be seen by the scope of the initiatives and is much more raw than most of the opposition’s proposals. There is also no real recognition by the BN of the factors that have put the majority of Malaysians in these circumstances in the first place.

And more importantly, there is no substantive strategy to bring about sustainable changes in the quality of life and higher incomes. Many of these measures are short-term, vote-buying deliverables.

Where is the attention to the other needs of Malaysians? Where is the long-lasting investment in the people? Indeed, the ‘You help me, I help you’ modus operandi reflects a disturbing shallow view of Malaysian society.

Selling BN as a product

It is not just the money and materialist orientation of Najib’s electoral strategy that is so apparent. There is another commercial exchange taking place – Najib is offering himself for sale.

Signs across the north use the slogan ‘Produk Dahulukan Rakyat Malaysia’ next to pictures of the caretaker premier ‘People First’. In the Malay heartland, these posters contrast with the ‘Kestabilan’ posters in the urban areas.

The BN is being described as a ‘product’ that the people should repurchase. The government is hoping that the electorate is on automatic payment, and will repurchase the 55-year old incumbent coalition.

To back up the purchase is a massive amount of advertising. Traditionally, the government has used the mainstream media for its electoral messages. This time round, they have spent so far an estimated RM100 million on advertising on public websites, billboards and shows – including Malaysiakini.

This marketing is obvious. BN messages are placed in between songs on the radio, on city billboards and lit up like it is the time for a grand sale. How much is the amount of money spent to light up the Umno building nightly? This is well beyond the saturation point.

Why is there this focus on selling Najib? It is part of the commercial approach that rests on the same principles of commercial exchange above. Najib is packaged as a product to buy. The BN is framed as a ‘lasting’ product that should stay.

The beneficiaries of the branding exercise to date have been the advertising companies that were paid small fortunes for the marketing programme, and they have been the biggest advocates of this strategy.

Do voters buy their choices on brand marketing or is there something more fundamental at work? Are Malaysian voters that shallow that they will respond to political advertising?

Mitt Romney outspent Barack Obama in last year’s United States presidential campaign by more than double. The 2012 campaign spent an estimated US$5.8 billiion, a bit less than half of Najib’s election primer and not including the advertising and current vote buying efforts. Importantly, this money was raised from the private sector not public funds.

Money is important, and some people will be swayed by it, but not everyone. Romney lost. He spent billions but lacked the human touch, the needed connection to win loyalty and inspire hope that Obama provided through a more people-oriented organisational campaign that was build from the grassroots.

A successful campaign sees people in their totality, not just as materialist consumers. Najib’s use of commercialisation is increasingly pushing the electorate to see his methods and his product as past its expiry date.

Modi , Rajapaksa and  Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang  are clearly around for some time to come. Both are clearly hoping to expand their constituencies and speak to larger audiences. Both are ambitious men and believe they can cut a deal with posterity.

Unfortunately, history has this terribly bad habit of coming in the way. Narendra Modi may well become the emperor of Hindustan, but his legacy will be forever tainted if he doesn’t make amends for the riots of 2002. Gujarat’s silence today can also be interpreted as the peace of the grave.

Except that democracy in fact offers outlets for expressing precisely such contempt towards itself or against those whom anyone believes to be using democratic power to serve special interests. But it’s often a long and winding road to get to your goal.This PAS behavior was most uncalled and distasteful. Grass root supporters of PAS grow up!Why do the PAS Unit Amal members behave like that puzzle me and what do they learn in school.Their behaviour is no better than those from UMNO who throw red paint,stones and bricks at opposition buses,revving their motor-cycles,setting up tents and loud-speakers across the road to disrupt the opposition ceremah,instead of holding a public debate etc.shows that Malaysians have a long way to go to become a developed country.PAS Yusni is a spoiler and should withdraw as Sg.Acheh candidate, to allow Chegubard a straight fight with UMNO.Use your head PAS

What worries, is that the number of such people that I seem to be bumping into – as I pass through life – seems to be increasing exponentially. I meet such people at work, in my professional circles, in the housing society, when I am on holiday and even at parent-teacher meetings. What such people fail to realize that this rarely helps accomplish anything other than create a fragile equilibrium that is disturbed by the slightest tremor.we have to state clearly our message to PAS. We only support PR to change government and not particularly that we accepted your philosophy. Please do not act like you are taiko now. We can vote you out anytime now. You have already get your lion share in most of the states. Please don’t be so greedy! Please withdraw your candidacy in Kota Damansara and NOT to bully the small party. After all, what is the different between you and UMNO?

Is the predictability of their behavior, and their desperate need to be heard a sign of their competitiveness, their intelligence or their mediocrity? Aren’t the brilliant supposed to be somewhat unpredictable and eccentric? Is this a reflection of some childhood insecurity – as my psychiatrist friends would say – when their parents never allowed them to get a word in edgeways? Or is this a veiled arrogance that makes them believe the world must sit and learn at their feet even when they know precious little about the subject at hand? Whatever the case may be, there is no denying that very few things infuriate a thinking person more than coming across or having to co-exist with such an individual in his / her immediate vicinity – a fact that is fast becoming the case in most walks of life.

 PAS start to ‘big head’ already. They wanted to be Taiko in PR. They thought they are able to vow Chinese vote. Sorry, if they started act like UMNO, Chinese will throw you right away. Most of the Chinese only support bi-partisan. They just need a first round of knockout to BN. Voting PAS does not mean for agreeing their philosophy.

In other words, it is quite possible to get along while disagreeing vigorously in a democracy. You don’t have resorted to physically assault  Badrul Hisham to  win state seat. to get PAS Unit Amal members had formed a human wall in an attempt to stop  PKR’s Sungai Acheh candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin from handing in his nomination form last Saturday, according to election watchdog Pemantau.

“When this tactic did not work, (they) resorted to physically assaulting him,” claimed committee member Maria Chin Abdullah (left) at a press conference today.

She said the incident was a breach of Badrul Hisham’s right to participate in politics, as well as an issue of personal safety.

Badrul Hisham, better known as Chegubard, was in a three-corner fight with PAS candidate Yusni Mat Piah and the Umno incumbent Mahmud Zakaria for the state seat.your goal.

A similar incident happened in Semenyih, where the PSM team was blocked also by unit amal. But they managed to push through like rempuh polis masa protest.

Except that democracy in fact offers outlets for expressing precisely such contempt towards itself or against those whom anyone believes to be using democratic power to serve special interests. But it’s often a long and winding road to get to your goal.

That it’s complicated and often confusing is undeniable. Look at the functioning of democracy in the US. Normal democratic practice here has been knocked out of shape by lobbies and special interest groups. The gun manufacturers’ lobby manipulated the senate to defeat a Bill on Wednesday that would have ensured background checks on buyers of guns so that some control would be there to prevent felons and mentally unstable persons from acquiring firearms. Around 90% of Americans supported the move. And the Senate voted 54 to 46 in favour. But, under the peculiar rules that govern the US Senate, the Bill was defeated.

The terrorists, foreign or domestic, who brought mayhem at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, probably had contempt for such institutions. We have some inkling now of who did it. What we can say definitively is that terrorists have at least three features in common however disparate their ideologies or causes are.

One, they believe their cause is the one that must trump all other considerations; two, they believe in inflicting violent harm on ordinary folk, preferably when people are least expecting it; and, three, they think democracy is either useless or a sham.

Evolutionary logic suggests human beings are genetically inclined to get along in certain conditions and come to blows in others. Both conflict and cooperation have ebbed and flowed through history. Be that as it may, in recent centuries humankind has created a number of institutions and arrangements designed to help restrain violence and promote patient cooperation. Democracy, with its checks and balances, rights and freedoms, is one institution. Organised sport in various forms is another.

From Narendra Modi to Mahinda Rajapaksa, the politics of South Asia is entering a new phase, with both leaders openly dismissing the need to treat all their citizens with the same sense of justice and compassion that they have afforded others.

In Modi’s case, the overwhelming majority with which Gujarat brought back its chief minister in December 2012 is reminiscent of the decisive manner with which Rajapaksa sought to consolidate his own electoral victory in January 2010, when he became president of Sri Lanka for the second time. He had won 57 per cent of all votes cast, while his chief opponent, Sri Lanka’s former army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka, took as much as 40 per cent and carried both Tamil-dominated North and East provinces.

Rajapaksa and Fonseka had been comradesin-arms since Rajapaksa’s first election in 2005 right up to the end of the war against the LTTE in May 2009. The falling out was sealed with a Fonseka interview to a Sri Lankan newspaper, the ‘Sunday Leader’ , in which he stated that surrendering LTTE fighters were killed on the orders of Rajapaksa’s brother and Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Soon after elections in January 2010, Fonseka was court-martialled and arrested. He is still serving out his sentence in jail.

As for Modi, the BJP seems to be slowly reaching out to Gujarat’s Muslims, fielding Muslim candidates in Muslim-dominated areas in February’s civic elections (24 Muslim candidates won Salaya municipality’s 27 seats), a vast improvement over the December state elections in which there was no Muslim candidate and the Bharatiya Janata Party won a whopping 115 seats out of 182.

The fact remains that both Modi and Rajapaksa remain unrepentant, both insisting that their electoral majorities have apparently given them the absolute right to deal with their subjects in the manner they deem fit. There is no space here for disagreement or dissent. Ten years after the Gujarat riots, Modi would much rather talk to the European Union — or to Japan or China — about progress and economic development in Gujarat, while justice and reconciliation efforts towards his own Muslim compatriots remain minimal. It took the Supreme Court recently to tell the Ahmedabad municipality that it must start a school in Juhapura, the city’s largest Muslim ghetto; Modi had been contesting the use of Central government funds for such a school because he believed that it didn’t pass his litmus test of a “secular” education.

Like Modi, Rajapaksa believes that the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), a commission set up to investigate the breakdown of relations between Colombo and the LTTE, can only be implemented in the way of his choosing. The LLRC rejected several charges against the Sri Lankan military of deliberately targeting Tamil civilians during the last weeks of the 2009 war, but accepted that massive human rights abuses against the Tamil community had taken place.

As for the cause of the 26-year-long civil conflict, the LLRC said, Sinhalese politicians had failed to offer an acceptable solution to its Tamils, while Tamil politicians had fanned Tamil separatism. The State must reach out and reconcile its minority population, and vice-versa , it added.

It doesn’t seem as if Rajapaksa is listening. As the US-sponsored vote against Sri Lanka comes up at the Human Rights Council in Geneva next week, the Sri Lankan president has dug in, dismissing all international criticism . In the name of battling terrorism, Rajapaksa’s refusal to reach out to his own Tamil politicians and discuss equal rights for all Sri Lanka’s citizens, irrespective of ethnicity and religion — such as full police and land powers for the Tamil-dominated North & East provinces, as is the case with Sri Lanka’s other provinces — is met with stony silence.

Modi and Rajapaksa are clearly around for some time to come. Both are clearly hoping to expand their constituencies and speak to larger audiences. Both are ambitious men and believe they can cut a deal with posterity.

Unfortunately, history has this terribly bad habit of coming in the way. Narendra Modi may well become the emperor of Hindustan, but his legacy will be forever tainted if he doesn’t make amends for the riots of 2002. Gujarat’s silence today can also be interpreted as the peace of the grave.
The leaders of PKR and PAS yesterday agreed to allow PKR to stand in Sungai Acheh in a deal to solve overlapping claims to seven seats across the country.

Yusni announced this afternoon that he has withdrawn from the contest, although his name will remain on the ballot paper.

Targets of violence and intimidation

Maria also claimed Pemantau’s observers were also targets of violence and intimidation on nomination day.

In Kapar, one Pemantau volunteer was hit by a water bottle thrown at him by BN supporters.

Another volunteer there had to leave the vicinity of the nomination centre under police escort, after the supporters purportedly threatened them by saying that their safety could not be guaranteed.

In Lembah Pantai, BN supporters were said to have accused Pemantau volunteers of forging ‘Pemerhati’ identification tags of election observers accredited by the Election Commission, although they were wearing Pemantau’s own yellow identification tags at the time.

In both nomination centres, BN supporters had reportedly made Pemantau observers to remove their Bersih T-shirts.

Meanwhile in Marang, Pemantau volunteers have recovered pamphlets purportedly distributed at the Umno Marang building prior to the nomination period.

The phamplets accuse Pemantau of plotting to disrupt the election and show the resulting chaos to the world via social media.

“We stress that Pemerhati and Pemantau are different entities, with different roles to play.

“Pemantau is cognisant of its complementary role as non-accredited observers and does not seek to supplant Pemerhati,” she said.

The group also made issue of the use of barbed wire in Gelang Patah and Kuala Selangor, pointing out that the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had also questioned the suitability of using barbed wire in areas where large crowds are expected.

“In peacetime, this is excessive,” she said.

Voters must Knock PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI Out and make Pas a fringe party that they used to be. Pas Muslims remain a minority though,Muslims making up 65 percent of  Malaysia population the most part, they have been living in harmony with Malaysian of other faiths, and protected by a somewhat fragile secular democracy.

But all has not been well lately. The PAS  media is contributing to the polarization and marginalization of Malaysia’s Muslim population, and worst yet, “demonizing” them., “Is this the responsible behavior of the media? I think it is a totally irresponsible behavior which is promoting communalism in the country.suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress have raised voice against this, but they said I am suppressing the media.”

WHERE THE MALAYS IN KAMPONG BARU AND KAMPONG PANDAN GONE TO? ALIEN HAS TAKEN OVER during PAS LAST TERM IN TITIWANGSA

Who is the real you PAS  AHMAD ZAMRI  ?

Why   PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang always the issue ?

mentioned that neither changing circumstances nor people can affect your balance so long as your core as a human being remains the same, I was inundated with requests to write about one’s “core as a human being!”

Simply put, your core is your real, essential self — the authentic you, the person you are when you shed all pretences. That’s the easy part; what is more difficult is tearing down the perception you have of your real self! For, all of us come to adopt an image of ourselves that we believe in very early in life, and then live trapped in that image for the rest of our lives. In doing so, we forget to understand who we really are, what makes us tick and what is true happiness or the real purpose of our lives.

And so, a child who may have had to deal with difficult parents withdraws into himself and lives the rest of his life convinced he is an introvert; a girl who may have been complimented for little else than her looks, may start focusing on her looks to the exclusion of all else. Someone who is appreciated for their sense of humour, may start believing that is their calling card. If smartness benefitted you in early childhood, you start believing yourself to be clever. But how sure are you that this is the real you? Most probably the person you really are is hidden within the layers you have built over the years.

Add to that the pressures of fitting into predetermined slots and measuring up to expectations — of punishing fitness
routines, cosmetic surgery, and makeovers; of faking it to measure up, pushing yourself beyond limits, and doing things that you intrinsically don’t agree with — and your core self is too deeply hidden to even flutter in protest! Everyone wishes to be someone he or she isn’t. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like clawing the walls in frustration or getting out of your body, so to speak, and walking away? At such times, you are obviously being forced to do something that runs contrary to your true self; something your very being rebels against!

Psychotherapist Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, says that people are aware of a sense of self-estrangement, and understand that they are not living lives according to ‘their true authentic selves, their deepest possibilities in the world. The result is a sense of near-desperation.’ Healing this, he feels, would lead us to a new sense of purpose and to a deeper, more satisfying life.

Being true to your real self, psychiatrists tell us, induces psychological well-being as it leads to a feeling of higher self-esteem and satisfaction, and hence happiness. People who are true to themselves also have better coping skills and are mentally and physically, healthier.

But how can one discover one’s core self? Read on…

• Understand that to be the real you a certain amount of selfishness is necessary! Your focus has to shift to yourself.

• Who are you really? And what do you want? The first step is to understand yourself and know your priorities — listen to your mind and body language.

• Know your strengths; more important, know your weaknesses.Have the confidence to be yourself and not copy anyone else.

Have you ever been tempted to do what you should rightfully be doing? Most probably not! For, the very definition of temptation is wishing to do that which you are not supposed to do! You are tempted to do the very things that you are warned against, eating what you are advised not to, and wondering about places that are declared danger zones! As old as Adam and Eve, temptation is what led the original First Couple to taste the fruit of that one forbidden tree, and commit the Original Sin that led to the Fall of Man! Temptation is very easy to give in to, and near impossible to resist.

The Devil outside may be easier to resist than the Devil within, which makes temptation a natural state of existence for us. Our natural urges are all set to be tempted and lead us astray. We give in to temptation when we rationalize the outcome and convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing by giving in. The body craves pleasure and so, all the wrong things; the mind, which knows better, tries to resist, but then rationalizes the craving and gives way. Curiosity is a huge factor in temptation. Curiosity, which is basically a function of the mind, is aroused by denial or unapproachability.

• Make it a habit to look your best and feel good all the time. Nurture your mind with stimulating conversations, reads, and other challenging activities.What are the things that give you happiness? Indulge in them. Often.When are you most uncomfortable and irritated? Shun those activities.

Notice how the day you start a diet also seems to be the day you crave all kinds of unhealthy food! You think of reasons to put off the dieting, or convince yourself that a little indiscipline will not cause much harm! The mind has its reasons that decide whether you give in or not. Temptation is the weapon used by unscrupulous people to control others. When Ravana wanted to abduct Sita, he took on the form of a golden deer that tantalises her. She sends Rama off in hot pursuit and Lakshman after him, thus falling into the hands of the evil Ravana! When Lord Indra wished to test King Kaushika (later Sage Vishwamitra), he sent Menaka, an apsara from his court, to disturb his meditation. Kaushika lived with Menaka for 10 years and they had a daughter — Shakuntala.

His arrested meditation had to continue thousands more years before he became Sage Vishwamitra and managed to overcome all passion and temptation. Temptation by itself is not a sin, though it may pave the path towards sin. To be tempted is normal, a natural state of affairs. Whether you give in to that temptation or not is what determines your character. If ever a married person were to tell me he or she has never felt attracted to a member of the opposite sex; if someone said they have not been ever tempted to cheat or lie, I would find that difficult to believe! We all have our weak moments, and to be tempted is not wrong. So temptation is a good indicator of character. You do not know you are honest unless tempted by dishonesty! How do you know you are faithful unless you are tempted to be unfaithful? The strength of your resistance is a measure of your faith, fidelity, or your honesty!

• Focus on your most important relationships and don’t waste time with negative souls.Dream big, and empower yourself to fulfil those dreams!
• What fun would a life without temptations be? Temptation is also the stuff seductions and wild imaginings are made of! To be tempted by love and desire, to allow the mind to meander through forbidden pastures before resolving to resist them in the long-term interest, or to give in at times… Can you imagine life without ever being tempted by anything at all? What a pallid, colourless existence that would be! In Oscar Wilde’s words, “I can resist anything except temptation!”
  – Assisting and safeguarding the interest and welfare of the Bumiputera remains the main agenda of leaders and the government today, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said
  “So, the Bumiputera need not worry if the word Bumiputera is not used or repeated numerous times when implementing policies or the New Economic Policy,” he said when closing the two-day convention “Empowering the New Economic Model: A Bumiputera Economic Jihad”, organised by the Gagasan Badan Ekonomi Melayu (GABEM) at Universiti Teknologi Mara, here Saturday, Aug 20. 

  Muhyiddin said that though the interest and welfare of all races would be taken into consideration when implementing the country’s economic development policy, the interest of the Malays and Bumiputera would not be denied or forgotten.

  “I myself am not be willing to see a situation whereby no efforts are made to help or assist the needs of the Malays, as long as they are needed,” said Muhyiddin when commenting on recent speculation and perception by some that the leaders and government was not giving importance to Bumiputera.

  He added that was a group of Malays who want to distance themselves from Barisan Nasional (BN) as if “We are not championing their rights and interest.”

  “There is also perception that Bumiputera are not given priority or importance in the awarding of contracts and the worth of such contracts were not lucrative enough.

  “This included the awarding of projects under the Government Transformation Programme since questions were raised by some,” he said.

  Muhyiddin said maybe capable Bumiputera companies can compete among themselves and be selected to participate in the government transformation projects through the tender system based on meritocracy or qualification.

  He said the government was serious in assisting Bumiputera entrepreneurs, and the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) was formed to assist Bumiputera to play an active role in the corporate sector.

  “The role and main objective of Teraju is critical to lead, coordinate and drive Bumiputera transformation and participation in the economy to reduce the economic gap that exists between Bumiputeras and other races.

  “Within a year Teraju had identified 1,100 potential Bumiputera companies that has the potential to be listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange,” he said.

  Muhyiddin said he had also received 25 resolutions proposed during the convention, to be submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Lee said no foreseeable combination of political alliances would arrive at the necessary number to execute an Islamic state. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, April 24 ― Veteran MCA politician Datuk Lee Hwa Beng hosed down today his party’s claims that a vote for DAP could lead vicariously to the implementation of hudud law, pointing out that it was “impossible” for any winner of Election 2013 to set up an Islamic theocratic state.

Without naming any party, he noted that there were politicians who relied on fear-mongering tactics among the Chinese community by warning them that an Islamic state will result if the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition comes into power or, alternatively, if there is a coalition of Umno and PAS.

MCA, hit by widespread unpopularity among the Chinese electorate, has made the possibility of an Islamic state a central plank of its campaign in Election 2013.

The party has placed a number of newspaper advertisements suggesting that a vote for DAP is a vote for hudud, the Islamic penal law, especially after the PR party said it had considered using the logo of PAS in the general election following now-dispelled doubts about its ability to apply its own symbol.

Lee, the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman who gained public acknowledgement for his role in investigating the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, pointed out that any change to the Federal Constitution required a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

He said in a letter to The Malaysian Insider today that the number of seats contested by the various political parties, including the main Muslim parties of Umno and PAS, suggest that it was impossible to amend the constitution as needed for an Islamic state.

Lee based this on the assumption that all non-Muslim MPs would not vote for any amendment to introduce an Islamic theocratic state.

“For example in the Terengganu state assembly some years ago when PAS introduced hudud law, the lone MCA member abstained from voting for it whereas, in contrast, all the Umno members voted for it,” he said.

He pointed out that even if Umno won all 105 parliamentary seats it was contesting in the peninsula and the 15 in Sabah, and if Sarawak’s PBB took 14 seats there, these would still total only 134.

This, he pointed out, remains short of the two-thirds majority ― 148 seats ― needed to amend the constitution.

He added that while it may appear possible if Umno, PAS and PBB formed a coalition, it should be noted that PAS and Umno were competing for many of the same seats.

“My conclusion is that an Islamic theocratic state is impossible in our multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural country, safeguarded by our societal constitution and the Federal Constitution itself.”

Veteran MCA politician Datuk Lee Hwa Beng hosed down today his party’s claims that a vote for DAP could lead vicariously to the implementation of hudud law, pointing out that it was “impossible” for any winner of Election 2013 to set up an Islamic theocratic state.

Without naming any party, he noted that there were politicians who relied on fear-mongering tactics among the Chinese community by warning them that an Islamic state will result if the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition comes into power or, alternatively, if there is a coalition of Umno and PAS.

MCA, hit by widespread unpopularity among the Chinese electorate, has made the possibility of an Islamic state a central plank of its campaign in Election 2013.

The party has placed a number of newspaper advertisements suggesting that a vote for DAP is a vote for hudud, the Islamic penal law, especially after the PR party said it had considered using the logo of PAS in the general election following now-dispelled doubts about its ability to apply its own symbol.

Lee, the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman who gained public acknowledgement for his role in investigating the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, pointed out that any change to the Federal Constitution required a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

aid in a letter to The Malaysian Insider today that the number of seats contested by the various political parties, including the main Muslim parties of Umno and PAS, suggest that it was impossible to amend the constitution as needed for an Islamic state.

Lee based this on the assumption that all non-Muslim MPs would not vote for any amendment to introduce an Islamic theocratic state.

“For example in the Terengganu state assembly some years ago when PAS introduced hudud law, the lone MCA member abstained from voting for it whereas, in contrast, all the Umno members voted for it,” he said.

He pointed out that even if Umno won all 105 parliamentary seats it was contesting in the peninsula and the 15 in Sabah, and if Sarawak’s PBB took 14 seats there, these would still total only 134.

This, he pointed out, remains short of the two-thirds majority ― 148 seats ― needed to amend the constitution.

He added that while it may appear possible if Umno, PAS and PBB formed a coalition, it should be noted that PAS and Umno were competing for many of the same seats.

“My conclusion is that an Islamic theocratic state is impossible in our multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural country, safeguarded by our societal constitution and the Federal Constitution itself.”

I believe all the political parties be it in BN or PR is well aware of this FACT. I also think most Malaysians accept this FACT. However many Malaysians wish that one day Malaysia will mature to the level where race is not a factor in Malaysia and of course that’ll take some time…..
The problem of just a few years ago when many Muslim candidates and one Hindu candidate contested for the same seat reulting in the Hindu candidate winning, largely did not happen in the above cited election. The reason being that Muslim voters are now not willing to vote for a non-viable candidate just because he/she is a Muslim.

If Muslims continue to play such strategic electoral politics as they have demonstrated in the past, they have nothing to fear from UMNO. They can force  PAS to change its basic thinking and policies or get reduced to a fringe party that they used to be.

“No one single race can hope to rule Malaysia by itself,” said Tun Mahathir Mohammad here yesterday.

In his speech at a private dinner with Perak’s businessmen, the 87-year-old former Prime Minister said neither Malay, Chinese or Indian could single-handedly steer the country’s leadership.

“It has to be ruled by all three (major races) together with the people in Sabah and Sarawak.

“Only then, this country can be peaceful, grow and develop for everyone to enjoy its wealth,” he said.

He said despite being a nation of different race and religion, peace was still maintained due to the spirit of togetherness.

He pointed out that the country had progressed and was considered to have reached developed status because all three races as well as the people in Sabah and Sarawak were willing to work together in a coalition to form government.

He said Barisan Nasional was formed on this concept.

“There is a willingness to share and the voice of each race can be heard for decision to be made for the well-being of all parties,” he said.

He said the opposition parties, DAP, Pas and Parti Keadilan Rakyat ( PKR ), tried to copy by forming a coalition.

“But theirs is a fake coalition.

“Pas is aiming to impose Hudud laws in the country, including on non-muslims but DAP cannot accept this.

“While PKR is only aiming to make their de facto leader (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) Prime Minister,” he said.

Mahathir said it was not easy to govern a multi-racial nation and expressed hope that the public would not fall for the opposition’s attempts to “demonise” BN.

“I hope this time, the people would choose BN,” he said.

Pas that had made a habit of loudly proclaining their Muslim-friendly credentials have been put to tests by Muslim voters. Muslim voters have decided that neither any of them is their messiah nor enemy; they each had to prove what they are for Muslims.

The basis of an equitable democracy is that the various communities — ethnic and relegious — get representation in the political decision making process. In an equitable democracy like  Malaysia Pas  intimidation and influence peddling on the basis of religious and ethnic origin often happens and is compounded by the fact that there are over a dozen major linguistic and ethnic communities, a multiplicity of class and over half a dozen relegious communities, it is difficult to build an equitable, enlightened and secular democracy.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has reiterated the party’s stand that only Muslims can be the prime minister of this country.

But he said anybody could be a minister, regardless of whether the person was a Muslim or a non-Muslim if the opposition pact formed the next government after the May 5 general election.

“Non-Muslims can work with Muslims to administer this country on condition, No. 1, the prime minister must be a Muslim.

“The person in charge of policies must be a Muslim in an Islamic nation. If he is a non-Muslim, then he should embrace Islam.

“For instance, for the works minister’s post, if the person picked is a non-Muslim, but he has the knowledge and expertise in road and building construction, we will appoint him, but we will not appoint a non-Muslim to take charge of mosques,” he said in his ceramah here late last night.

Hadi, who is defending the Marang parliamentary seat and the Rhu Rendang state seat, also belittled the BN-led state government’s efforts to transform the Kenyir Lake as a duty-free zone.

He also said the construction of the Kemaman Zoo was a sheer waste of public funds.

Much of Hadi’s speech at the ceramah centred on raising outdated issues and openly criticising BN’s top leadership and state leaders, including caretaker mentri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said.

Introducing the Vibrant PAS campaign

All that large sections of the P119 TITIWANGSA  voters want to do is vote out  PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI’. But if that rage and hope coalesce into a movement the voices from the street of Titiwangsa, the country, its politics and its people will have a lot to answer – to itself and to the world watching it. Because then we will never be able to hold any politician accountable for the wrong that he does or oversees or fails to stop. And that will be too much of a price to pay – even if it is in the name of Islam. Or the promise of it.

We have seen Changes  as a man  PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRIwhose only brutality is this admission of “awe” – it’s a moment of ruthless intellectual honesty  a radical fundamentalis from  Malaysia PAS a radical party we the voters of P119 Titiwangsa will reject him  We never see that moment of “awe” resurface  what is the PAS dream? Whatever the truth about Changez, some of his associations are violent; that’s enough to keep him  out of paliament.

The screenplay by the “Tiger of Jelutong”. and   PAS president Hadi Awang  is virtually a master class in how to adapt an apparently unadaptable source.

“The introduction of hudud to the legal system would mean one system but two laws, which is impossible to impose,” said the incumbent Bukit Gelugor MP popularly known as the “Tiger of Jelutong”.

He was responding to PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI   statement that the Islamist party was confident its Pakatan Rakyat ally will accept hudud law because it was willing to contest using the PAS logo.

AHMAD ZAMRI said hudud is only for Muslims, the implementation of two systems will cause conflicts and chaos,” Karpal reiterated.

“Many people have misconceptions about what unity in Islam is. Unity in the ummah is when I love my brother regardless. When we look at the lives of the sahabah we realize that everyone had a different opinion, it is dealing with these opinions that keeps us united.”

As an example, Karpal said that if a non-Muslim and a Muslim were to be jointly charged for the same crime under the Penal code and hudud system respectively,  it would be impossible to have a trial.

He pointed out that the Federal Constitution also does not provide for an Islamic state.

“If PAS wants to amend the Federal Constitution, DAP or PKR will not allow it,” he said.

“I don’t think PAS would insist on amending the Federal Constitution,” he added.

To some extent, I suspect, this lies at the heart of a fair amount of support for and the man  PAS president Hadi Awang  who could be the   prime ministerial candidate for 2013. – something that would eventually take more – that’s what common folks believe. And sensing the PAS  mahapurush sentiment, AHMAD ZAMRI hasn’t really gone out of his way to disabuse that notion. If anything, he has worked on that image. His Pas model’, he has quietly and subtly signaled, is not just about keeping the economy in place.

In the name of god, the merciful, the compassionate… brothers, sisters… what is the greatest threat facing islam today?

Aerican aggression in the middle east.

The zionist occupation of palestine.

These are merely symptoms… of a greater disease. The real threat…is in our hearts. Instead of allowing islam to transform us, some muslims are trying to transform islam to serve their political agenda. They are using the label “islam”…to kill, murder innocent people, something that the prophet would never have condoned — sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

Remember sura 13, verse 11…
“God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” How can we end the oppression of the muslims by resorting to even worse behavior? If our spiritual and our moral condition worsens, how can we expect god to improve our economic and our political conditions? This is the fallacy of the self-styled jihadists, who! I hope I haven’t angered you, brother. As-salaam alaikum. This is the fallacy of the self-styled jihadists who murder innocentcivilians.

How can you expect muslims to be civized when the americans, the israelis, the russians kill thousands of muslim civilians and dismiss it as collateral damage? The holy qu’ran permits an eye for an eye. If the unbelievers kill our civilians, we have the right to do the same.

Allah permits retaliation only against the guilty party, not against innocents. Sura 53, verse 38, says, “no soul shall bear the burden of another.”

The holy qu’ran also says, “and kill them wherever you find them. “And drive them out of the places where they drove you out,for persecution is worse than killing.”

You forgot the first part of that verse, brother –
“fight in god’s cause against those who fight you, “but do not commit aggression. God does not love aggressors.” There are many who are seeking god, but instead end up following the devil.

What you said tonight…
Toubled you.

Yes.
It’s very different from what I’ve been told.

There are many false teachers taking verses from the glorious qu’ran out of context, corrupting the teachings of the holy prophet. Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Tell me, brother… what is the greatest jihad?

To fight the unbelievers in battle.

No.

No?

The holy prophet –sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam — said that war against the unbelievers is the lesser jihad. The greatest jihad is to battle your own soul, to fight the evil within yourself.

So, who is a true holy warrior, then?

The prophet’s cousin ali, who was fighting an unbeliever in battle, and he gained the upper hand. Just as he was about to strike the death blow, the unbeliever spat at him.Ali threw down his sword and refused to kill him.

Why?

Ali said that, when the man spat at him, he himself became angry And he was no longer fighting for allah, but to avenge his own pride. He knew that if he killed that unbeliever out of ange rrather than out of a desire for justice, he would be a murderer in the eyes of allah on judgment day. That, my brother, is a true holy warrior.

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Last night,

One of the most fascinating, if not disturbing, aspects of  Ammal PAS Malaysia threat in recent dayts has been the emergence of a diverse, yet very small group of radical Salafists in Titiwangsa and all over the nation  that to create havoc during the G13

Barisan candidate P119 Titiwangsa3 DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI received a timely boost  when Indian Muslim community leaders here, including from Kimma ,but In the incident that happened KIMMA SERVICE CENTRE  set to help Barisan candidate P119 TitiwangsaDATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI was grounded by Desperate P119 PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI ASA’AD KHUZAINI WITH AMAL PAS AND INDIAN THUGS

there was an explosion in Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang at a BN operations center, injuring a security guard. Early this morning, a second bomb was found in a rubbish bin not far away and quickly detonated

Malaysia  media has some of the best journalists in the world. But we also have a diverse lot who differ in their beliefs on what’s worth reporting and how to report. Some merely report how Jack and Jill went up the hill and what happened thereafter; some others probe the reason for Jack’s fall; yet others look for conspiracy theories that implicate Jill. Of course, there are a few who don’t find it worth reporting until Jack, Jill or both call for a press conference.

In 2007, the yea http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/ was founded P119 Titiwangsa,  its charismatic and controversial chief editor is has been living in KG PANDAN LUAR since 1978  his children went to SMK Aminuddin Baki, Kuala Lumpur like  Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani

Ketika calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani menyerahkan kertas pencalonannya di pusat penamaan calon di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Aminuddin Baki, kenangan di zaman persekolahan di situ kembali segar di ingatannya.

Johari, 49, yang juga Pengerusi Penyelaras BN Titiwangsa, berkata beliau merupakan anak jati Kampung Pandan yang menuntut di sekolah berkenaan dari 1977 hingga 1981.

Beliau berasa bangga dan terharu semasa menyerahkan borang penamaan calon kepada Pegawai Pengurus Pilihan Raya Abdul Halim Ismail di dewan sekolah itu untuk bertanding kerusi Parlimen Titiwangsa.

“Sekolah inilah yang menjadikan siapa saya hari ini. Daripada seorang anak kampung setinggan di Kampung Pandan sehingga menjadi ahli korporat.

“Antara kenangan yang tidak dapat saya lupakan ketika bersekolah di sini ialah rambut saya digunting oleh guru disiplin,” katanya kepada pemberita.

Selain Johari antara bekas pelajar sekolah tersebut termasuklah Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, Menteri Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani Datuk Seri Noh Omar, ahli korporat Tan Sri Rozali Ismail, tokoh budaya Profesor Dr Siti Zainon Ismail dan pengarah filem terkenal Datuk Yusof Haslam.

SINCE 1977 want ed a good man like  had spelt out his vision of what the organisation would be all about. More importantly, he knew the impact his work would make. In one of his earliest blogs in the same year, he wrote, “The more secretive or unjust an organisation is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie,” adding, “Since unjust systems, by their nature, induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance.”

LIVING ON ONE DOLLAR: THE PROMISE OF GOOD STORIES

THE BIG SHIFT FOR ME OCCURRED WHEN I STARTED VOLUNTEERING ON THE THINGS I CARED ABOUT AFTER MY DAY JOB WAS OVER. WITH 24 HOURS IN EACH DAY, EVEN AN EXTRA HOUR A DAY ON SOMETHING THAT WASN’T A FINANCIAL MOTIVATOR, BUT MADE MY HEART BEAT HARDER, BECAME CRUCIAL AND ADDICTIVE. WHEN THE DOLLAR SIGN IS NOT INVOLVED AS YOUR MAIN DRIVER, CLUTTER IS REMOVED AND YOUR PURPOSE BECOMES VERY CLEAR; IT BECOMES EASY TO RECOGNIZE WHAT GIVES YOU ENERGY AND WHAT TAKES IT AWAY. I ALSO REALIZED VERY QUICKLY WHAT I ACTUALLY ENJOYED DOING, AND WAS HAPPY TO DO IT FOR FREE.NOW WHEN I HEAR THE TERM “GIVING IS LIVING,” I NO LONGER SEE IT AS A CLICHE. I DIDN’T START LIVING MY “NEW LIFE” UNTIL I STARTED GIVING AND ASKING NOTHING IN RETURN. VOLUNTEERING WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER, YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND YOUR LONG TERM GOALS, I PROMISE YOU THAT.EXCELLANCE IS AN ART WON BY TRAINING AND HABITUATION,WE DO NOT ACT RIGHTLY BECAUSE WE HAVE VIRTUE OR EXCELLENCE BUT WE RATHER HAVEWhen people go to vote in 2013. Who are they going to vote for? Some party, some individual about whom they know little or nothing, their own race, own religion, own region? Or are they going to vote against someone rather than vote for someone. Are there any organizations who are preparing a list of Individuals, their statements and their accomplishments that are verifiable, instead of rhetoric. Are we looking, praying and deluding ourselves that some Savior will emerge and lift us out this quagmire? I read a lot of comments but have not come across one that in any shape or form shows organize way of getting efficient and transparent government. It is not enough to keep on using foul language towards people in power and people in opposition whose names are also mired in dubious deals, to say the least. Corruption begins at home.  System is where it begins. has become a lot more subtle, sophisticated, and veiled. Corruption is the word these days. Y’all are reveling in it. Is there anyone who suggests a mechanism of punitive course of action to those who offer bribes. All the  expose of corrupt practices attributed are there any Governments who took action against companies and individuals who received severe punishments?
THIS PROJECT CALLED ENGAGE THE THE WORLD OUR GOALIS, BROADLY, TO GIVE VOICE TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS  WHO BEING ATTACKED AND DEFINED FROM A POSITION OF IGNORANCE. THIS WILL BENEFIT ALL IT WILL EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF A LARGE PORTION OF OUR WORLD, AND WILL CREATE A REAL DIALOGUE INSTEAD OF A ONE-WAY STREAM. FREE SERVICE OF VALUE TO SOCIETY, DRIVE TO HELP COVER THIS ORGANIZATION’S OPERATING EXPENSES. IF YOU FEEL IT’S YOUR  TURN,PLEASE MAKE A SMALL DONATION OF $10, $20, $50  WE NOT PAID A CENT FOR OUR WORK AT SUARAKEADILANMALAYSIA.FOUNDEDWITHOUT RESORTING TO ADVERTISING, KEEP IT ALIVE. IT IS YOU WHO HAVE CREATED<SUARAKEADILANMALAYSIA. IT IS YOU WHO BELIEVE THAT A PLACE OF CALM REFLECTION AND LEARNING IS WORTH HAVING.

Who is the real you PAS  AHMAD ZAMRI  ?

WHERE THE MALAYS IN KAMPONG BARU AND KAMPONG PANDAN GONE TO? ALIEN HAS TAKEN OVER DURING PAS LAST TERM IN TITIWANGSA

Why   PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang always the issue ?

That’s a lesson political parties which preach secularism but practise communalism will have to learn quickly before 2014 closes in on them.The DAP has rubbished the efforts of its opponents to reignite the debate on the aims of PAS’ hudud law,

2013  election will be fought between “secular and radical fundamentalist   forces,  fear meanwhile is Muslim vote polarization that will work against it in the next general election. But the Muslim vote bogey is just that – a bogey. while deeply religious themselves, have moved beyond wanting to see religion used as a political tool.

Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani  said that Islam was being hijacked by some people in Pas who were trying to strip it of its spirituality.

“Anybody who is using religion to control you, they consider themselves a better Muslim, Christian, Jew than you are, so you have to follow,” Youssef said, adding that although members of the Muslim Brotherhood call themselves Islamists, he doesn’t know what that means.

“I don’t know what ‘Islamists’ is,” said Youssef, who is the host of a comedic show in Egypt called “El Bernameg” (“The Program.”) “I know one religion: Islam.”

PAS, which has changed its Islamic state struggle to that for the welfare state, is a party that is becoming more confused and is increasingly confusing its members and supporters, a political analyst said today.

“PAS is in this situation because it believes in the lies it created, the most obvious being that DAP is ready to accept the implementation of hudud in the country, although DAP had repeatedly rejected it,” Dr Ibrahim Ghafar said.

He told Bernama that those who repeated their lies would end up believing them as true.

Commenting on a statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that PAS was naive in believing that DAP accepted the implementation of hudud, he said it was true that come election time PAS would play up the hudud issue for fear of losing the support of Malay voters.

Ibrahim said DAP would issue a statement at the same time saying that it strongly opposed implementation of the hudud because it did not want to lose its non-Muslim supporters.

“Actually, both parties are playing games and making this an issue for election. There is no mention of implementing the Hudud law in the opposition’s manifesto,” Ibrahim said.

He said this also applied to DAP’s readiness to use the moon symbol in the 13th general election, which the PAS leaders and supporters believed without thinking about the actual message being conveyed by DAP.

“The DAP’s message is easy…that PAS not only bows to the DAP in allowing the word Allah to be used in Malay language bibles but also in other matters,” he said.

He said DAP, which had already got PAS to change its struggle, also knew how to take advantage of PAS’s current confused state.

Because of this, he said, voters must be extra cautious in deciding which party to choose.

He said PAS could not be counted on to champion Islam and the interests of the Malays because currently there was no PAS leader capable of acting wisely on police issues for the Malays and Muslims.

Unlike in PAS there was calmness and intelligence in Umno and its component parties which were consistent with its struggles for national development and the people’s wellbeing, he added.

“We have less than seven years to work hard to achieve Vision 2020, to turn Malaysia into a high-income nation, and the Barisan Nasional government has already put the country on the right track.

“Let’s not gamble our fate in the disunited opposition coalition which has become more confused and is far from achieving anything,” said Ibrahim.

The Role of the Individual vs. the Role of the Group – In much of the Muslim world, people are often seen not as individuals but as members of particular families, clans, tribes, ethnic groups, or religions. In the Muslim and Arab world, a problem between two people can become a problem between two families, with the individual becoming a “soldier” in the ensuing feud. What an individual might think personally – who is right and who is wrong – becomes irrelevant, fostering a mindset that obstructs the impersonal and dispassionate analytic thinking that defines the modern world.

All that large sections of the P119 TITIWANGSA  voters want to do is vote out  PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI’. But if that rage and hope coalesce into a movement the voices from the street of Titiwangsa, the country, its politics and its people will have a lot to answer – to itself and to the world watching it. Because then we will never be able to hold any politician accountable for the wrong that he does or oversees or fails to stop. And that will be too much of a price to pay – even if it is in the name of Islam. Or the promise of it.

Voters must Knock PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI Out and make Pas a fringe party that they used to be. Pas Muslims remain a minority though,Muslims making up 65 percent of  Malaysia population the most part, they have been living in harmony with Malaysian of other faiths, and protected by a somewhat fragile secular democracy.

But all has not been well lately. The PAS  media is contributing to the polarization and marginalization of Malaysia’s Muslim population, and worst yet, “demonizing” them., “Is this the responsible behavior of the media? I think it is a totally irresponsible behavior which is promoting communalism in the country.suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress have raised voice against this, but they said I am suppressing the media.”

Ethnic unrest in Myanmar has cast a wider spotlight on Buddhist-Muslim tensions in southeast Asia.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is warning of a wider fallout, which could fuel growing inter-faith unrest across the region.

Security forces in Myanmar have been accused of a vicious campaign of ethnic cleansing against minority Muslims. But a report by Human Rights Watch has also raised concern about who was at the heart of much of the violence, and in many cases, it says Buddhist monks were either involved or even leading attacks against Muslim communities.

Nasrudin’s remarks appear to back PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang who leapt to defend Pakatan ally DAP, after the secular party came under repeated fire for opposing hudud and the formation of an Islamic theocracy.

In his article titled “Hudud: DAP Menentang, Umno Menolaknya (Hudud: DAP Opposes, Umno Rejects)”, Hadi said that there were no issues with PAS working with the secular party even though the DAP has repeatedly stated that it will not brook the creation of an Islamic state or support the enforcement of the religious criminal code that prescribes, among others, the amputation of hands for theft.

PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan challenged today political foe Umno to draw up its version of hudud, the Islamic penal code, and present it to Parliament to be made law, as both parties battle for the crucial Malay-Muslim vote ahead of key elections.

Nasrudin was responding to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who reportedly said that Umno could help PAS set up an Islamic state and enforce hudud if the Islamist party quits the Pakatan Rakyat opposition pact and rejoined the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

“I challenge Umno to complete its draft and then present it in Parliament. If it fulfills the requirements of Islam as commanded by Allah, I am confident PAS MPs will support it.

“If Umno is not willing to do it, then know that Umno is only capitalizing on hudud as a political tool in the face of the 13th general election,” the PAS man said in an article published in the party’s paper, Harakah Daily, today.

Yudhoyono is sounding a note of caution and says the violence could cause problems for Muslims elsewhere in the region.

“I will encourage Myanmar to address it wisely, appropriately and prevent tension and violence. We in Indonesia are ready to support them to reach those goals,” he said

Earlier this month, eight Buddhist monks were allegedly beaten to death by Rohingya Muslims at an Indonesian detention centre. It is all serving to raise concerns across the region.

In Sri Lanka, where Muslims make up nine percent of the population, interfaith tensions are also causing concern.

Extremist Buddhist groups like the Bodu Bala Sena – or Buddhist strength force - say they are protecting their culture against Muslim influence.

Buddhist extremists have carried out attacks on Mosques, and Muslim-owned businesses. In southern Thailand, tensions between Muslims and Buddhists have a historical dimension.

Thailand annexed the Malay Muslim state of Pattani more than a hundred years ago. Muslims were not fully integrated into what is a predominantly Buddhist nation and a Muslim separatist movement has raged there for a decade.

And in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, Buddhist-Muslim tensions have arisen from their economic standings. Chinese Buddhist minorities are seen as relatively wealthier than the native Muslim populations.

In Myanmar, the discord can be traced back to British colonial rule, when the country was known as Burma. Many Muslims migrating from India and what is now Bangladesh were given preferential treatment.

Resentment grew after independence in 1948, and has been gaining momentum.

And this is one of the problems – a monk named Wirathu, has become known on the Internet as the Burmese Bin Laden. Wirathu was jailed for 25 years in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim hatred, but freed under a general amnesty in 2010.

Since his release he has gone back to preaching against Muslims. In one sermon he declared:

“We are being raped in every town, being sexually harassed in every town, being ganged up on and bullied in every town.”

And in another sermon he warned:

“In Rakhine State, with their populaton explosion they are capturing it. And they will capture our country in the end.”

So are there any solutions for this ethnic problem? How much time will it take before peace can be achieved, and what will be the consequences of these tensions?

Inside Story, with presenter Hazem Sika, discusses with guests: Maung Kyaw Nu from the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand, and a former political prisoner; Alex Berzin, a Buddhist scholar and teacher; and Sam Zarifi, Asia Pacific Director at the International Commission of Jurists, an international human rights group.

Who is the real you PAS  AHMAD ZAMRI  ?

In hindsight the magnitude of opposition was surprising. PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRIis not an intellectual in the sense that understanding of economics. In that sense is the personification of the ‘stupid party’— the familiar Left-liberal caricature of the Right. The real redevelopment plans problem was that the ideas that appealed to him were profoundly unfashionable in real the creation of a “propertyowning democracy”, a ideal — were regarded as complete blasphemy PAS term. To conformist intellectuals who claimed a monopoly over the gospel, was indeed a witch.mentioned that neither changing circumstances nor people can affect your balance so long as your core as a human being remains the same, I was inundated with requests to write about one’s “core as a human being!” the redevelopment plans, was a cordial affair with most owners agreeing that the 100-year-old village must be developed.
Simply put, your core is your real, essential self — the authentic you, the person you are when you shed all pretences. That’s the easy part; what is more difficult is tearing down the perception you have of your real self! For, all of us come to adopt an image of ourselves that we believe in very early in life, and then live trapped in that image for the rest of our lives. In doing so, we forget to understand who we really are, what makes us tick and what is true happiness or the real purpose of our lives.

Unfortunately, PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI lacked self-assurance and courage of his convictions.PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI could egg on the rural people to soldier on against the ‘evil Empire’ because he was convinced that godless statism was indeed evil. he could unreservedly claim that he is putting the “Great” back into PAS because he knew that there was nothing to be ashamed of.
is a polarizing figure. But as Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani rightly retorted: “If you decide, you divide.” For the generation that rejected the political assumptions of the swinging Sixties,AHMAD ZAMRI will be the Madonna.

Voters must Knock PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI Out and make Pas a fringe party that they used to be.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY EARNING A REAL RETURN ON REAL INVESTMENT

The brave visionary and future PM from Pasis keen to shun P119 Tiiwangsa, Knowing perhaps that his party has no chance of winning there.PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG have  nothingto gain by going to Titiwangsa? What does his parachuted  candidate Ahmad Zamri from hot Sentul to lose? A lot, considering how the media would jump to say that his charm didn’t work!

Its not the first time we are seeing this PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG kind of cowardly behavior from PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has announced his readiness to challenge Umno giant and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for the Pekan seat in Pahang in the coming 13th general election . Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin today laughed off the opposition’s intention to breach fortress Najib – the Pekan parliamentary seat his responsibilities were limited to his home state, but surely that’s hardly a restriction for canvassing. If he was the dynamo he is made out to be, surely the party would have benefitted from his canvassing there? But no. Not one rally in the state. Why? One reason: he is afraid and he runs away from the real battles, preferring to stay ensconced in “safe” states
To be fair, most politicians would do what Abdul Hadi Awang is doing. They are all aware of their limitations. They are smart enough to stay where they are on firm footing. But the peculiarity of Modi and the BJP is that they take a public posture that is the exact opposite of the reality. And they attack others as a strategy to deflect attention from themselves. So rather than keeping silent on Abdul Hadi Awang’s absence from PEKAN, they will attack Najib for failing as the PM But the people are smart. They know when someone talks too much and delivers too little. They know how to remove the grain from the chaff. That’s why they branded ABDUL HADI AWANG “Feku”. And that is why there is so much credibility gap PAS faces. Even in the face of an extremely poor poll scenario for the UMNO, the PAS isn’t winning. It’s strange, but the both the ruling party and the main opposition party are dragged by ABDUL HADI AWANG are expected to lose in the forthcoming 2013 elections! Oh ok….PAS willlose alot seats, but that should still be called a loss, considering that they will be far too short to even claim to form a government.

With an election in the near future, scheduled for May 5th, Malaysia’s economy is under scrutiny. Is it really as good as the present government says it is in its campaign propaganda? The usual indicators look good — growth is 5 percent this year, inflation is low at around 2.5 percent and unemployment is low and stable at about 3 percent. Malaysia has enjoyed vigorous growth and change in the 50 years since it became independent and it is now the 37th largest economy in the world.

DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI is a man on a mission, keeping his eyes on the long term. As a true leader, he also recognized his role in leading his team and motivating them to putting in their best efforts. But the same considerations don’t seem to be in PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI’s mind. In fact, if anything, its just the opposite. The fear of losing and surrendering after having canvassed aggressively stalks his mind. A true blue leader indeed!

Losing and winning are part of the game but a leader gets tested in all such situations. We seeing how DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI canvassing aggressively to win.butlast election was a battle UMNO lost. But as a leader,DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI didn’t shy away from anywhere. that the PAS is fighting hard not to be the loser in the Titiwangsa. It also says that UMNO is most likely going to get a big majority. Think of this. If
DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI wanted to burnish his reputation, he would have made a dash for other seat. That’s what weak leaders do. Go to “safe” states and fight from “safe” constituencies. They can lecture the others about being brave and fighting in tough terrain, but when it comes to themselves, they want to be in the safe, no-fire zone. But DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI is made of a different code. He is doing in Titiwangsa (a few rallies), but not overdoing it to hog the limelight. He is happy to have the local unit take the credit for the success. Only a true leader does that. Only a true leader is humble enough and secure enough for hom to allow his team to take the credit, while he himself comes forward to take the blame for failures.

Now Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) is also in such a situation when it readily accepts a former senior Umno leader, Muhammad Muhammad Taib as its member, who left Umno and Barisan in such haste that one wonders if he decided to join PAS in order to further extend his political life.

Being in politics in Malaysia all his life, surely, Muhammad Muhammad Taib cannot bear the brunt of not being able to hog the political scene for a while longer, even if he is now on the other side.

Rebellion to tyranny is obedience to God.”

- Thomas Jefferson

COMMENT I am not one who believes in shooting the messenger but former Umno vice-president Muhammad Muhammad Taib’s solemn declaration that only PAS can lead Malaysia towards Islam is the kind of disingenuous rhetoric that characterises the religious discourse in this country.

Never mind the inconvenient truth that the former Umno man’s conduct which led to public opprobrium but his religious whitewashing by joining PAS – which led to shrieks of indignation by some of my PAS comrades, who would dearly like to be the architects of such ‘enlightenment that Muhammad Taib envisions – not only demonstrates that politics makes strange bedfellows but religion adds a kinky twist to relationship.

Muhammad Taib (left) said, “Islamic values should be spreading from the cities, just like Mecca and Madinah became focal point of Islam during the Prophet’s time,” and “By right, the cities in the Klang Valley, which is the metropolis, should become the beacons of Islam to lead the way for the hinterland.”

Really? On what evidence does he base this theory on? Muhammad Taib is like most modern religious agitators – love to go on about “development with soul” which means indulging in a capitalistic orgy but maintaining an outward appearance of piety.

An example of this would be Taib babbling on about Muslim women wearing headdress or some such Islamic ‘value’ in tandem with whatever development that would sustain a middle-class Muslim polity.

The “hinterlands” have always been lacking in development simply because ignorant rural populations pacified by whatever handouts they can get based on race or religion, and fed on a diet of racial polarisation are more likely to ignore the malfeasances seeping out from the cities.

How this is different from what Umno has been peddling all these years is beyond me, but then again, I have never based my desire for ‘ubah’ on the kool aid Pakatan peddles.

Potential conflicts

Moreover, what of the denizens of the cities? Chinese communal preoccupations seem to have been subsumed in the evangelical fervour spreading through the community (with a significant section of the Indian middle class joyously joining in the chorus) which sets up potential conflicts that could be easily exploited by unscrupulous political adversaries.

As a close PAS confidante said, ‘It is interesting to note, that what used to be an objection against hudud based on secular principles by DAP, is now tinged with religious (Christian) undertones”. Protip: Perhaps someone should tell, the evangelical Christian politicians from the DAP and The Star employers who are supposed to be BN propagandists, to stop tweeting their religious platitudes for all and sundry.

I have always argued that PAS is the sole ideological coherent party in the alternative alliance and with the exception of PSM (which is on unsteady ground when it comes to a strict reading of its ideological bedrock) will probably be the last party standing together with Umno, when the non-Malays lose the racial demographic war.

This is why the rhetoric of so-called hardliner like PAS deputy spiritual leader Haron Din (left) brings into sharp focus, the fragile nature of religious alliances. On the campaign trail, Harun claimed that hudud laws would be implemented if Pakatan came into power even over the objections of the DAP.

Furthermore, he was confident “that DAP will accept hudud law because of its willingness to contest under the PAS symbol.” That Islamic impulse which has always been simmering in the background is best summed up by this quote from the good doctor, “Pakatan must take over the federal government. Only then can we amend the (federal) constitution to implement hudud law.”

Now of course they are those who would dismiss people like Harun Din as Umno sub rosa provocateurs (sic) but the reality is that this is a very real dialectic within PAS.

PAS has been extremely politically astute post-2008 but because they are facing rumblings from their own ranks and the political ineptitude of the DAP; they fumble around always attempting to maintain their Islamic credentials against Umno.

Umno meanwhile unfortunately for their critics, could make a credible argument for religious stability, what with all the nonsense coming out from PAS, in their wilderness years, where they were the Islamic bogeymen du jour. It was a poisonous kind of stability but then again there are few ‘Islamic’ countries in the world that boast the same.

State of flux

However, the irony is that PAS has made great strides in embracing the problematic mainstream poltical discourse. Speaking of contesting under an ally’s symbol, in 2008, PAS fielded an Indian candidate (and a woman at that), R Kumutha Raman, in a state seat in Johor under the PKR symbol, because their constitution did not allow for a non-Muslim candidate.

Fast forward to this election, PAS is fielding under its own banner Hu Pang Chaw (left), in Ayer Hitam. Hu a Presbyterian and chief of PAS’s non-Muslim wing – PAS Supporters Congress – is the beneficiary of PAS amending its constitution allowing non-Malays to run on its ticket. Kumutha too, is running again on a PAS ticket for the Tiram seat.

Now some may argue that all this is an example of poltical expediency and Islamic dereliction of duty on PAS. However convenient as that line may be, the reality is that PAS has always been in a state of flux, which has been submerged in the Umno bogeyman narrative.

For decades, PAS willfully chose to ignore its leftist leaning roots to the detriment of the party and its engagement with mainstream politics.

Even now with party leader Abdul Hadi Awang babbling about PSM’s supposed Marxist leanings, is just one in a long line of confused thinking that characterises the hardliners reluctance to depart from the Umno script that have been blindly following for years. I mean look at the whole ‘welfare state’ concept that both Umno and PAS seem so keen on propagating.

Hasn’t anyone from either party pointed out the ideological underpinnings of such a concept? On the other hand, is it just easier to use the Marxist red scare to drum up support using ignorance as a platform?

Common values

Hu claimed, “Our members come from different races and religions, but we have common values and a common goal,” he tells his audience. “Allah tells you to do good things, be respectful and help one another. There is no conflict between the different religions.”

And really, such “common” values are what PAS should be working as long as it needs the non-Malay vote to claim the throne in Putrajaya. As long as PAS on its own cannot garner the support of sizeable majority of the Malay polity, it should use this moment to refine its brand of Islam.

PAS should not merely concentrate on ‘form’ but work on the substance, which concerns issues like good governance, corruption and some form of egalitarianism that are not anathema to Islam, Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism or at least progressive ‘secular’ interpretations of said religions.

When PAS has cleaned its own house and that of its allies when it comes to these issues (which would take decades if seriously pursued) then perhaps they could pay attention those contentious issues that are of no concern to a mono-ethnic society that is eventually what Malaysia would become.

In the meantime, PAS should work to making a reality of its “For All” claim and the only way of doing this, is to stop playing the hudud game, when they think nobody is watching or when they assume partisans are too drunk on the kool aid to be concerned.

My foot Only PAS can lead M’sia to Islam, declares Mat Taib Collective identity is not produced by one man overnight. Mat Taib alone cannot create a culture which is deviating from PAS. After all, one hardly see any of their elected wakil rakyat jumps ship. Oh wow, so now he is all conscience clear … Read more

PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG A RECIPE FOR DISASTER AS THE SPECIALISTS RETURN, METHOD WILL TOO

How does a leader quell the everyday, inner conflicts caused by the heavy responsibility, the need for constant
self-control and the inevitable crises – and still remain an effective leader? One could answer, “Not easily,” and be
right.Voters must Knock PAS CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI Out and make Pas a fringe party that they used to be.MISSED OPPORTUNITY EARNING A REAL RETURN ON REAL INVESTMENTIt was precisely because  Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani couldn’t be neatly pigeon-holed that  he aroused the unrelenting opposition of the intelligentsia. The hostility was so visceral t to refashion Kampong Baru into what they were clearly not. It will be said that what mattered to Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani was drive and enterprise the landowners want a value-for-money deal that is on par with the surrounding areas like KLCC but the value of their land must also be on par with the value of the surrounding areas. This would not be possible if Kampung Baru remains as it is.   attributes that bypass the great majority of plodders.inspiration from a time when Malays nurtured generations of individualists hungry for success and adventure.For Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani  , an individual’s station in life wasn’t determined by the accident of birth: it was shaped by energy and enterprise. To him, the state didn’t exist as a safety net or a cushion: it existed as a facilitator to help people better themselves. however, stressed that the interests of the Malays would not be affected in any way

DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI have excellent suggestions for calming and resolving that turmoil – and for going beyond toremain an effective, highly resonant leader.Barely in his  Mid 40s, he has a quick smile and restless inclination to act that makes him seem to be perpetual motion. ’s business acumen, emotionalintelligence and energy enabled  Read more

In the name of Pas’s pride

The huge ads are everywhere in  P119 TITIWANGSA. With a full-face photograph of  PAS introducing  himself and inviting you, personally, to vote for PAS  on May 5th, Come to think of it, didn’t have something to do with  guy lying about REDEVELOPMENT in KG BARU,, way back when? why he did not set up shop in  KG BARU – under the brand name of the –  PAS PARACHUTED CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMBRI which can helpe him now and them get on with his  PAS REDEVELOPMENT Revolution?

PAS PARACHUTED CANDIDATE AHMAD  was confronted with this ticklish query: Will  Anwar no longer be the only candidate for PM post, often addressed  no as the “Pride of PAS is PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG ”?

This is why the rhetoric of so-called hardliner like PAS deputy spiritual leader Haron Din (left) brings into sharp focus, the fragile nature of religious alliances. On the campaign trail, Harun claimed that hudud laws would be implemented if Pakatan came into power even over the objections of the DAP.

Furthermore, he was confident “that DAP will accept hudud law because of its willingness to contest under the PAS symbol.” That Islamic impulse which has always been simmering in the background is best summed up by this quote from the good doctor, “Pakatan must take over the federal government. Only then can we amend the (federal) constitution to implement hudud law.”

Now of course they are those who would dismiss people like Harun Din as Umno sub rosa provocateurs (sic) but the reality is that this is a very real dialectic within PAS.

PAS has been extremely politically astute post-2008 but because they are facing rumblings from their own ranks and the political ineptitude of the DAP; they fumble around always attempting to maintain their Islamic credentials against Umno.

Umno meanwhile unfortunately for their critics, could make a credible argument for religious stability, what with all the nonsense coming out from PAS, in their wilderness years, where they were the Islamic bogeymen du jour. It was a poisonous kind of stability but then again there are few ‘Islamic’ countries in the world that boast the same.

Is there room for social etiquette in Pas?

PAS is  a political party that grew up accidently it become what it is today because of religious madness.

What Islamists seek and what Muslims desire are two separate objectives, sometimes overlapping, but clearly distinct. While the former seek an “Islamic State,” the latter merely desires a “state of Islam.” One state requires a theocracy, the other a state of spirituality.

The phrase “state of Islam” defines the condition of a Muslim in how he or she imbibes the values of Islam to govern personal life and uses faith as a moral compass. In contrast, the “Islamic State” is a political entity: a state, caliphate, sultanate, kingdom, or country that uses Islam as a tool to govern society and control its citizenry. At times, these two objectives overlap each other, but most often, they clash. Islamists obsessed with the establishment of the Islamic State have ridden roughshod over Quranic principles and the Prophet’s message of equality.
However, Muslims who have striven to achieve a state of Islam have invariably stepped away from using Islam to chase political power, opting instead for intellectual and pious pursuits.

Since the first caliphate in Medina in the 7th century, clerics have continually reminded Muslims that their mission on Earth—to spread Islam—is impossible without the establishment of an Islamic State. Such edicts by caliphs and imams have gathered near-universal acceptance despite the fact that neither the Quran nor the Prophet asked Muslims to establish such a state. In fact, the five pillars of Islam, which form a Muslim’s covenant with the Creator, do not even hint at the creation of an Islamic State.

It is not that early Muslims did not get a chance to establish an Islamic State. Through the centuries, from the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs to the Umayyads and the Abbasids, hundreds of Muslim dynasties have tried their hand at creating this illusive Islamic State, and all have failed in laying the foundations of such an entity. Some rulers demonstrated impeccable personal character and integrity, but as soon as they died, murder and mayhem followed. If the creation of an Islamic State was not possible when Muslims were at their peak of power and intellect, it would be reasonable to conclude that this ambition is not realizable when Muslims are at their weakest and most divorced from education and the sciences.

Maudoodi, one of the main proponents of an Islamic State in the past century, in his bookIslamic Law and Constitution, poses the question: “What are the fundamental objects for which Islam advocates the establishment of an Islamic State?” Answering himself, Maudoodi quotes two verses of the Quran, suggesting that they require the establishment of the Islamic State:

“Certainly We sent our Messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and Balance, so that people may conduct themselves with equity” (57:25), and “These Muslims (who are being permitted to fight) are a people who, should We establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and enjoin good and forbid evil.” (22:41).

Nowhere in these verses of the Quran does God ask or authorize the creation of an Islamic State. Yet, from the same verses, Maudoodi concludes that God commands the creation of such an entity. In the same book, Maudoodi writes that such an Islamic State will “eradicate and crush with full force all those evils from which Islam aims to purge mankind.” In this one sentence Maudoodi reveals the true objective of the Islamists.

The urge to “eradicate,” “crush,” and “purge” lies at the heart of their obsession with an Islamic State
In his seminal work published in 1925, Al-Islam wa usul el-hukum (Islam and the Fundamentals of Authority), Razik argued against the Islamic State and advocated the separation of religion and civil society, drawing the wrath of the influential Al-Azhar University. His books were burned and he was declared an apostate for merely suggesting that the stateof Islam did not require an Islamic State. His book was published in the aftermath of the collapse of the six-hundred-year-old Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the caliphate system by Turkey’s founding president, secular modernist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. For the first time since 632 CE, the Muslim world had no central political authority. The caliph’s authority had been on the wane since the rise of European imperial power in the 16th century, but the 1925 abolition came as a shock to much of the Muslim world, which was largely living under French, British, and Dutch occupation.

It was in this vacuum of political authority that intellectuals like Egypt’s Ali Abdel al-Razik raised difficult issues. Razik questioned the need for the revival of the caliphate and proposed the idea of a nation state where religion would not interfere with the political process. Razik’s opposition to the creation of the Islamic State in the form of a revived caliphate stirred anger among Egypt’s orthodox Islamic establishment.

Paradoxically, a group of Islamic scholars chaired by Sheikh Muhammad Abul Fadl al-Jizawi, the rector of Al-Azhar, had already issued a statement reluctantly coming to terms with the abolition of the caliphate. They had even criticized Muslims who felt bound by an oath of allegiance to the deposed Ottoman caliph and regarded obedience to him as a religious duty, already welcoming the weakening of the Turkish-based caliphate and had intensifi ed their campaign to have the caliphate returned to the Arabs.)

Razik’s critique, however, went beyond the simple acceptance of a fait accompli. He launched a vociferous attack on the centuries-old school of Islamic political thought. In this, he took on not only the orthodox Ulema (Islamic scholars) and Al-Azhar, but also self-styled modernist Egyptians like Rashid Rida, who oscillated between Arab nationalism and Islamic universalism, but never gave up on the Islamic State.

Razik, based his opposition on an Islamic perspective, considering his background as an Islamic scholar and as a former judge of a religious court. He argued that the caliphate or the Islamic State had no basis in either the Quran or the traditions of the Prophet. He rightly argued that the Quran makes no mention of a caliphate and invoked the verse that said, “We have neglected nothing in the Book” (6:38).

As long as Razik restricted his criticism to the caliphate, the orthodoxy was willing to tolerate his views. However, when he challenged the long established belief that Islam as a religion necessitated the creation of an Islamic government, he crossed a line, leading to years of harassment and ostracization with accusations that he was a communist. Undeterred by the witch hunt, Razik concluded that (1) Government or political authority, as necessary as it might be seen to realize Islamic ideals and obligations, was not the essence of Islam and had nothing to do with the primary principles of the faith; and (2) Islam left Muslims free to choose whatever form of government they felt could solve their day-to-day problems, with civil society minus an offi cial state religion being best able to offer such a solution. Razik clamoured for the de-politicization of Islam, claiming that the only benefi ciaries of the Islamic State were the tyrants who ruled Muslim populations and who were able to silence opposition by getting the Ulema to declare that opposition to their government was opposition to Islam.
Iqbal wrote dismissively of the clerics: “The religious doctors of Islam in Egypt and India, as far as I know, have not yet expressed themselves on this point. Personally, I fi nd the Turkish view is perfectly sound.” He went on to defend the separation of religion and state, writing, “The republican form of government is not only thoroughly consistent with the spirit of Islam, but has also become a necessity in view of the new forces that were set free in the world of Islam.”

Iqbal further cited two examples of how in early Islam the caliphate had adapted to political realities. First was the abolition of a condition that the caliph had to descend from the Meccan Arab tribe of Quraysh. Iqbal cited the ruling of an 11th-century jurist that, since the Quraysh tribe had experienced a political debacle, ruling the world of Islam no longer required belonging to the Quraysh tribe. The second example involved the historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun, who in the 15th century declared that since the power of the Quraysh had vanished, the only alternative was to accept the country’s most powerful man as the country’s imam or caliph. Iqbal concluded from all this that there was no difference between the position of Khaldun, who had realized the hard logic of facts, and the attitude of modern Turks, who were also inspired by the realities of their time rather than by medieval laws written under different conditions of life.

In his seminal work The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Iqbal wrote:

“Such is the attitude of the modern Turk, inspired as he is by the realities of experience, and not by the scholastic reasoning of jurists who lived and thought under different conditions of life. To my mind these arguments, if rightly appreciated, indicate the birth of an International ideal, which forming the very essence of Islam, has been hitherto overshadowed or rather displaced by Arabian Imperialism of the earlier centuries in Islam.”

The cause of the violence that has engulfed the Muslim world is centred on the premise of an Islamic State or a caliphate as the prerequisite for the flourishing of Islam. Among the contemporary opponents of the Islamic State is the brilliant Sudanese-American academic, Professor Abdullahi An-Na’im, who teaches law at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. In his classic book, Toward an Islamic Reformation, An-Na’im writes about the unrealistic utopian dream of an Islamic State: “The authority of the caliph was supposed to be derived from popular support without any principle and mechanism by which that popular support could have been freely given, restricted, or withdrawn. This is, I maintain, one of the fundamental sources of constitutional problems with the sharia model of an Islamic state.”

It is no wonder Muslims like An-Na’im are the prime targets of the Islamic religious right. Islamists consider secular, liberal, progressive, or cultural Muslims and even orthodox Sufi s a greater threat than the West.

The reason is that Muslims opposed to the Islamist agenda cannot be fooled or charmed in a way naive liberal-left politicians can. In fact, radical jihadis and their Islamist apologists have been targeting fellow Muslims for decades.

Their conflict with the West is only recent. Long before Islamists donned anti-imperialist paraphernalia, they were the loyal storm troopers for the United States, targeting left-wing and secular Muslims or anyone who was able to unmask their fascist agenda and links to Saudi-funded Wahhabis.

Even today, the primary enemy of the Islamist is the fellow Muslim who is unwilling to surrender to the harsh literalist and supremacist use of Islam as a political tool. The Muslims who stand in the way of the Islamist agenda pay a heavy price for their courage.

The call for an Islamic State gives false hopes to Muslim masses. The followers of Maudoodi and Syed Qutb are dangling carrots and the promise of heavenly pleasures to mislead the Muslim peoples.

Had the Islamic State been possible, Allah would have brought it about it by now. There were enough men of impeccable character and integrity that had the chance to turn their domains into a genuine Islamic State, but everyone who tried, experienced failure. Perhaps there is a reason why Allah did not mention the creation of such a state in the Quran. Perhaps this is why the Prophet Muhammad talked about the message of Islam reaching the four corners of the earth, but gave no instructions on the creation of the Islamic State. Perhaps he was giving us Muslims a message that we have failed to heed. Perhaps it is time to do just that and walk away from the pursuit of an Islamic State and instead work to create a state of Islam within each one of us.

“brings the narrative that everyone wants to return to — that MALAYSIA is the land of extraordinary opportunity and possibility,

Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said“To those  P119 Titiwangsa hardcore PAS voters whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your CONFIDENDENCE but I hear your voices , I need your help, and I will be your member of parliament too.”moment of change has come to P119 Titiwangsa even though enemies has spurred false rumors and insinuations about Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani can we the voters RISE TO THE OCCASSION WHEN THE P119 TITIWANGSA NEEDS US?  PAS a quest for power that is wholly circumstantial.  As a result, the exploitable asymmetries multiply for they are rooted in everyday opportunity- sometimes tempted by the thought of strategic ludo. It is the responsibility of  PAS political masters to ensure that the game does not escalate into snakes-and-ladders. We are so mesmerised by the difference that we become indifferent to similarity. Competition is muscular; cooperation is a wimp. But UMNO andPAS  have far more in common than they let on, in their past, and now in the possibilities of their future. History might yet prove, using its special long hand, that differences pale before a common purpose.the political establishment split in the effort to survive.  the Gang of Four wrought havoc in PAS.

None of the mainstream political parties, including the secular groups, has promised to eliminate or at least enervate the influence of political Islam. No party manifesto envisions the separation of religion from politics and the affairs of the state. Malaysia’s democratic institutions are willingly offering enormous space and unquestionable concessions to Islam in everyday life. I have always believed that mixing up religion with politics is PASS ‘s greatest tragedy in Malaysia

A pattern that unites PAS  DAP we have seen is in a new desire and facility in using power. At one level, there is nothing new about this- politics in Malaysia has largely been about the distribution and use of power, often in its most naked sense.In some ways, the present has democratised the flaws of the past and implanted them deep within a larger societal mindset. Today, everyone has a shot at their fifteen  minutes of despotic power. In a world where the only boundary to one’s power is the power of  someone else stronger, the urge is  to meet brutality with even more brutality. The real need is to renegotiate a new form of order or at least begin a conscious dialogue towards that end. PAS politics of Brutality and outrage are part of the same world- one w ill never free us from the other.

FEW  hardcore PAS P119 Titiwangsa PAS voters could have not anticipated the return of  Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani  in such striking fashion,Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani has drive  and excellent suggestions for calming and resolving P119 Titiwangsa unsolve problem by PASS for the last five yearsl – and for going beyond to remain an effective, highly resonant leader.Barely in his  Mid 40s, he has a quick smile and restless inclination to act  The real need is to renegotiate a new form of order or at least begin a conscious dialogue towards that end. PAS misuse of Islam and outrage are part of the same world- one w ill never free us from the other.that makes PASS  seem to be perpetual motion.There are three critical areas where PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG needs immediate improvement in order to become  the next prime minister state. Islamization is the last thing that will help PAS to achieve stability, progress and prosperity. Any future government that gives in to the Islamists or helps the youth achieve their desired Islamic form of governance or encourages the influence of religion over democratic institutions will significantly increase Malaysian’s woes.:  Malaysia has come under tremendous national and international criticism   for the appalling state of human rights. Without containing the influence of state policies tolerant of violence in the name of religion and operations by the non-state actors,  PAS will constantly risk its religious and sectarian minorities.All political parties must commit to internal stability (leading to economic growth), respect for human rights and a balanced foreign policy. In order to accomplish that, PAS  must secularize its democratic institutions. Without sticking to these goals,PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG  cannot find a road-map to stability. Elections should change policies, not only the regimes. Policy overhaul is precisely what  Malaysian, on its part, requires at this juncture for its survival.Today’s crisis is motivated less by anger at the past, more by rage at a future denied. The young are back at the barricades. -UMNO and PAS cannot afford to postpone their prosperity through conflict over Islam,There is a sense of horror that pervades the news in recent months.  It seems as is a basic form of humanity has been lost as one horrific instance of PAS ialamic  propaganda follows another.  It is as if routine exploitation Islam should  no longer be.t is not easy to sum up 2012 without a deep feeling of despair. If 2011 was the year in which some fundamental structural issues with our political system were exposed, 2012 seems to have not only deepened our  understanding  of those shortcomings, but also made us alive to the deepening fissures in society. This was a terrible year in terms If one were to try and tease out some patterns underlying the events of this year, they might broadly fall under two, somewhat related heads. For one, we are beginning to see the tentative first steps towards the formation of the idea of citizenry; the notion that as citizens there exists a reciprocal responsibility to not only respond to one’s immediate environment, but also play an active role in managing it. Over the last couple of years, the  interest in directly influencing modes of governance has grown; democracy as a practice is increasingly detaching itself from the narrow idea of elections. The political class has not understood this change; one has only to  look  at  the fact that in the recent protests against PAS amal strike team, virtually no elected representatives, not even local politicians, were involved. When a movement that holds the nation’s attention with such intensity fails to stir  the  representatives of people even a little bit, the schism between citizenry and the polity can be deemed to be enduring.

Going into Malaysia’s 56th year of independence, one would assume that racism would not rear its ugly head especially among its leaders – young or old.

There is Barisan Nasional (BN) and its predecessor Alliance that has always put cooperation as one of its pillars. And there is PAS and DAP  two multi-racial parties that have eschewed racism this pattern that has emerged is the deepening divide in society.2012 saw many incidents that underline the struggle to reconcile the many contrasting pulls and pressures that have followed in the wake of sweeping change over the last few years. It is now clear that the new came without any accompanying compass, and asked questions of the old that  it  did  not have answers to. The larger question of change penetrating beneath the skin of the modern, into our everyday lives, and finding genuine and widespread acceptance is the really big one that we are left grappling with.

A lot has been said about the sickness that lies withinPAS and the need to change mindsets. The trouble is that society cannot be hectored into change, no matter how just the cause. Social change needs a whole  ecosystem  of actions, but above all it needs a real dialogue. We have seen unprecedented change in Malaysia that has come without any mechanism to justify itself or explain its implications. A small section of society has embraced enormous change and now looks at the  rest  of  Malays with uncomprehending and often judgmental eyes. No intermediary mechanisms exist that would interpret this change and find place for it in the traditional way of life. The state does  not  function  adequately  nor  do  its institutions offer clear benchmarks, the market creates a sense of surface modernity while simultaneously reinforcing existing prejudices, and traditional institutions like  religion have not  really  done  their bit in making the new intelligible to the old, often acting to the contrary.Along with pushing for comprehensive reform that makes the legal framework more effective both in concept and delivery, it is also important to carry out a sustained societal  dialogue.  This  is  not  the  same  as  one  section lecturing to another or ‘educating’ them from a superior vantage point, but a genuine dialogue between peers that addresses each other’s anxieties and aspirations. So many Indians are experiencing things for  the  first  time  in their lives. New freedoms need new boundaries, which in turn requires a framework that is relevant for the times. The old sources of authority that drew boundaries cannot make sense of the new,  and  no  institutions  are  either facilitating a dialogue or stepping in to fill the void. The problems facing society have a lot to do with old mindsets being amplified by new freedoms, rather than being re-defined by them.

Malaysia  media has some of the best journalists in the world. But we also have a diverse lot who differ in their beliefs on what’s worth reporting and how to report. Some merely report how Jack and Jill went up the hill and what happened thereafter; some others probe the reason for Jack’s fall; yet … Read more

At the most basic level, it is possible to challenge even the overall understanding we have about who won and who lost.P119 DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI will gain in terms of vote , which means that as a proportion of their existing vote share,. If we were to, for the sake of simplicity, argue that choice of voters translated most directly into P119 DATUK JOHARI ABDUL GHANI  vote share,  outcome, mediated by many other variables, then one could actually make the case   when it comes need for youth and freshness, as pointed to by Norman Fernandez  triumphant performance it is far from clear as to what role it played in the choice of voters. The need to build a larger narrative that explains the current outcome in popular terms leads to an overplaying of HUDUD  role played by PAS. If the need for youth was so paramount then surely  It is also interesting how muted the reaction to visibility and presumed effectiveness during the election campaign PARACHUTED CANDIDATE AHMAD ZAMRI whose CHARM DIDN’T WORK

 One would imagine that there is nothing more real or sobering than election results for nothing makes reality more naked than hard cold numbers. And yet, because it is so difficult to disaggregate election results and tease out different strands of influences at work, what tends to happen is that the results serve to reinforce existing positions rather than act as a wake-up call for the parties in question. DAP should not cheat on the non-muslims against Islamic syariah and comes clean on HUDUD law!

 NORMAN FERNANDEZ  is not in danger of the sack, which may well be what he wants given his roiling discontent against the party and his perception that DAP has lost its way. AND RISK ITS FUTURE WITH PAS