Discussing 'Apa Lagi Cina Mahu'?

This blogger had a fun time last night chatting with some friends on the aftermath of PRU13 as well as the new Cabinet formation. One of the first exchanges when I arrived (the others had already gotten going for about half an hour) resulted in the best response I have heard to date to the...

... Question: Apa Lagi Cina Mahu?

Answer: Apa Lagi Lu Ada?

My response was more or less... Hahahahahahaha! It was all in good humour and the discussion lasted for a further 4 hours last night, covering the gamut of why the Chinese voted the way they did away from BN through to understanding the Gen Y's at a level that was quite enriching for this blogger. One of us even got serious enough to 'make plans'! 

But seriously, this sort of open conversation that was conducted with comfort among friends of different races (2 Chinese and 4 Malays at varying times) need to continue for our citizens to begin to understand the choices each other made at PRU13. These sort of conversations lie as a bastion against extremist attitudes towards what happened; i.e. the mass abandonment of BN by the Chinese despite the many promises and deeds of  DS Najib.

In the end, we agreed that greater understanding was needed between each other, with a couple of the guys taking note of the need to read San Kuo and the Water Margin as insights to Chinese mentality, and a certain TIMES article on Gen Y being of interest to all. And all also agreed that we really, really hate Corruption and Crime, and wish the cabinet post given to a certain Icon of Corruption proves to be a poison chalice!

Making Matters Worse After The Death Of 1Malaysia

Winston Churchill once said that a week is a long time in politics. And so with this in mind, and following a need to rest and re-focus after 10+ days of campaigning (I took a break in middle of first week after nomination day), I left it till today to put down my commentary. Ironically, as I lay these words down, matters, at least at the face of it seems to have gotten worse for DS Najib Tun Razak since the night 1Malaysia 'died'.

Observe the photo below:

This is an image taken from 'election night', when a rather sombre DS Najib thanked all those who have voted such as to allow BN to continue to govern another term. DS Najib appeared exhausted and his face at the beginning reflected much disappointment. Only on his second round at the mike on the podium did he have a more jubilant smile. I doubt he would smile as wide if he realised be hind him stood 2 individuals initimately linked to his 'loss'.

No one can deny that BN won, albeit by a majority smaller that in 2008. BN won, but DS Najib's mood reflected clearly that he felt he had personally lost! He pretty much admitted to this when in his initial speech that night, I could not recall him saying '1Malaysia', though my mother said he did mention it once, and instead, he very clearly admitted that in large part, the Chinese voters had rejected BN.

In hindsight, this is to me, no surprise. It is no surprise that the Chinese rejected BN and embraced Pakatan Rakyat. Why? It is because:

BN Promised 1Malaysia - which the Chinese Community DID NOT NEED!

Pakatan Rakyat Promised the end of Corruption and Crime - which the Chinese Community has repeatedly demanded!

I choose to judge here at face value and purposely discard all notions of conspiracy which is no less racist than some of the racism exhibited by Chinese politicians during the elections. In the end, even if there were racist leaders driving the Chinese votes in a certain direction, they had to be driven by good intentions, and Corruption and Crime remain as issues still unaddressed by DS Najib's government.

The Chinese Don't Need 1Malaysia

Don't get me wrong, the rhetoric around 1Malaysia is beautiful! Unity, delivery of what the people need by a high performing government, everyone judged by needs and means, not race, religions, creed, all very nice stuff. The problem is that since the arrival of '1Malaysia' products, 1Malaysia has transformed from being the values espoused to material things of value given out to people, be it BR1M, KR1M, the 1Malaysia Clinics, meals, vouchers, etc, etc!

Unfortunately, whilst some Chinese may have bought into 1Malaysia in spirit and indeed DS Najib has grown in popularity as a person and an individual leader to the community, the problem is, teh Chinese for the most part do not need 1Malaysia products! What they have been asking for is an end in high level corruption and a reduction in crime SINCE BEFORE PRU12!

The Chinese Want To See An End To Major Corruption!

However, the BN campaign, full of fluff and feelgood factor and riding on the popularity of 1Malaysia and DS Najib personally never really got serious about addressing corruption in particular. Many Chinese are angry still of specific cases, such as the PKFZ scandal, which saw a raft of Chinese leaders including the former MCA President brought to court BUT NOT A SINGLE MALAY ACCOMPLICE CHARGED! So much for 1Malaysia!

Then, as if it was bad enough that only the Chinese get punished for big scandals like PKFZ supposedly, the Chinese and Malaysian Hero that caused the PKFZ scandal to be brought to trial, Datuk Ong Tee Keat, another former MCA President, was dropped from his winnable Parliamentarian seat of Pandan! Pakatan Rakyat was smart enough then to offer the voters of Pandan another anti-corruption hero to vote in as their MP, Rafizi Ramli of NFC fame!

As the problem of Corruption is seen by the Chinese nationwide, then of course, the Chinese chose to vote against Corruption, against BN, NATIONWIDE! Observe how DW Ali Rustam, so called hero and moderniser of the state of Melaka was defeated by a strong swing of votes against him especially by the Chinese in Bukit Katil. This was because his being an Icon of Corruption, by allowing his state agencies to part fund his child's wedding was corrupt!

How DS Najib Could Make Things Worse?

There are 2 creatures on stage during the BN Victory 'celebration', very visible behind DS Najib - they are seen clearly in the photo above. The 2 creatures are the Icons of Corruption, Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ) and DS Shahrizat Jalil of NFC infamy. DS Shahrizat has no Parliamentary seat and I believe can no longer be a Senator, so best that she retire. The real problem is with KJ, who's lust for power sees him lobbying for a cabinet post in the press - TAK MALU BETUI!

The Chinese rejection of BN was able to mask also the rejection of BN by the young urban youth, in particular young urban Malay youths. They hate BN as the face of BN Youth is KJ. Whilst some may admire him at the outset of knowing him, many are then corrected by their elders by the retelling of KJ's corruption, such was his negative influence on Pak Lah's administration. DS Najib risks losing the support of ALL Malaysians by PRU14 if he chooses KJ!

Instead, DS Najib should give a clear signal to all by NOT selecting KJ. Give the signal such that UMNO picks up on this signal and also rejects KJ and the like. Let DS Najib's non-selection of KJ be the beginning of the re-birth of BN and UMNO! In PRU14, DS Anwar Ibrahim should no longer be a factor, but lets not have KJ as the new spectre to haunt UMNO and BN, driving it to oblivion.

And maybe hence when we are really cleaner for Corruption, we can begin to really cleanse the country of Crime, and the Chinese will return their votes to BN without need of any new rhetoric such as 1Malaysia...

PKR Attempts To Prove Indelible Ink Can Be Removed Using Postal Voter

Earlier today, an attempt was made by PKR leaders Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah Anwar to prove that the indelible ink used by SPR can be removed. To do this, they attempted to remove the ink off the finger of an army personnel that had just performed a postal vote.

THE ATTEMPT FAILED! Whilst ink was partially removed, only 30-40% of the ink actually came off. THE REST OF THE INK ACTUALLY REMAINED ON THE FINGER, with the stain easily discernible by anyone examining whether a voter has voted at the polling centre. And this with considerable time and effort spent on removing the stain!

Of course, despite their failure, we expect PKR and their Pakatan chums will likely sensationalize and spin the whole matter. Note the pics here would of course show their 'heroes' and their attempt, however, the more important image is that of the finger STILL MARKED BY INK DESPITE THEIR EFFORTS!

More importantly for me are questions that their attempt leave unanswered such as:

1 - Why do they spend so much effort on discrediting the internationally acknowledged indelible ink method to ensure the sanctity of our votes when they should be focussing on getting votes, especially as both Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah are losing?

2 - Is this yet another symptom of their realising Pakatan is about to lose PRU13 and their preparing the excuse for their supporters and international backers?

3 - Uhmmm... How do we know the guy they did the test on really was a postal voter? And wouldn't SPR use a different colour come polling day?

Aiya, even these questions give me doubt whether these 2 Pakatan candidates deserve a vote! Focus on getting votes la, focus on what voters want! Not focus on excuses on why they might lose before ballots are even cast!

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Desperation Mounts For Some As Election Nears

It appears desperation has set in for Pakatan and some of its fanatical followers. Just this morning as I dropped my kids off at school, I saw the following banner being defaced by what I assume is a Pakatan supporter who was driving a Blue Suzuki Swift with K (for Kedah) plates. He was doing this by pasting 'ABU' or 'Asal Bukan UMNO' stickers across the part of the banner saying BN.

This appeared to me to be a desperate move in large part as I did not think it was done with much thought, as:

1 - The act is of course illegal just as any act to sabotage legitimate campaign activities. Wanna compete, do it legally lah brader!

2 - The campaign Asal Bukan UMNO is a little irrelevant seeing as UMNO is not competing in this election, BN is! Perhaps they are frustrated now that all that ABU campaign materials they have prepared are wasted being redundant!

3 - The BN candidate is Segambut where this poster was defaced isn't even from UMNO! Jayanthi, the BN candidate for Segambut is from Gerakan? Is the saboteur even from Segambut or an outside influence?

Signs of desperation also abound with personal attacks by DS Anwar Ibrahim on Tun Dr M in Segamat a few days ago. I suppose if Lim Kit Siang could be booed out of a coffee shop including by Chinese voters during his walkabout in Gelang Patah, Pakatan have reason to panic, but that is no excuse for bad behaviour!

Voters will not support ill mannered leaders who cannot control the behaviour of their fanatical supporters!

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Politics Of 'Buang Yang Jernih, Ambil Yang Keruh'

In corporate life, we are always looking for 'Best Practices' as a sort of easy and low cost way to improve business. By the same token, it is the best of our people that a corporation cherishes and nurtures as it is difficult to develop such a star and expensive to bring in one from outside.

One would expect the same practices in other organisations also apply. One sees this in football, how stars nurtured in house are cherished even as they age, such as Ryan Giggs at Man U, Steven Gerrard in Liverpool, Lothar Mathauess at Bayern, with their departure seen as a tragedy, such as when
Raul left Real Madrid.

On the other hand, it is only natural for bad practices and inferior people are ejected from an organisation. This is necessary also to make space and free up funds to buy in stars from the outside - like the Robin Van Persies - to strengthen the team. The Malay saying for this is 'Buang Yang Keruh, Ambil Yang Jernih' or 'Throwing Away the Murky, Taking the Clear'.

So it is with great shock when I see political parties in Malaysia behaving in the opposite way.

OK, we do know that the 'Buang Yang Jernih' strategy has always been rampant in DAP, mainly to ensure the continued domination of Lim Kit Siang's family and cronies. It got worse recently with not just strong alternative leaders like Kerk Kim Hock and Wee Choo Keong cast aside, but an entire section of DAP delegates being left out of an AGM! However, DAP can hardly be accused of 'Ambil Yang Keruh practice.

However, in PAS, we now see a complete counter-evolution to an organisation with the full 'Buang Yang Jernih, Ambil Yang Keruh' approach! For not only did they get rid of proven, quality leaders such as Hassan Ali from their fold, they have now at last replaced their strongman in Selangor with ex-UMNO 'dirt', Icon of Corruption, TS Mat Taib, of 'I don't understand English fame' of all people!

And all this during the run-up to PRU13?!?! What, PAS thought that having active songstresses and actresses among their lineup, even as election candidates, candidates previous PAS leaderships would not touch with a bargepole is not good enough? They have chosen to recruit leaders UMNO would be happy to be rid off as well?!

I have a lot of sympathy for TS Mat Taib actually, at the end of his career and with age catching up to him, maybe he thinks it would not hurt to try to escape hell and get to heaven by trying the PAS route! But why would PAS accept him willingly? Would it not put off their supporters?

Or maybe this whole PAS 'Buang Yang Jernih, Ambil Yang Keruh' strategy isn't really PAS' originally but part of the corruption brought by their association with DS Anwar Ibrahim aka Darth Juburius! After all, Mat Taib was an ally of Anwar's in UMNO before... DS Anwar & TS Mat Taib are 'kawan seperdosaan'!

Question hence is not whether PAS is more attractive now with Mat Taib in their ranks, but rather whether PAS supporters will stay loyal with the rising stink among its leadership that continues to 'Buang Yang Jernih, Ambil Yang Keruh'!

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The Lost Viable PMs Of Pakatan Rakyat: PAS

As DAP and its fallen candidate for PM digs itself deeper into the indignity of its failure to conduct an AGM(!), our attention shifts to PAS, the oldest party in the Pakatan line-up and once seen as a fertile breeding ground for an alternative Malay PM for Malaysia to rise from grassroots OPPOSITION politics. This differs from the many PKR hopefuls who tend to be tainted by having begun their politics in BN, or in the case of Rafizi, in an NGO supported by Tun Daim.

The line-up of PAS leadership as potential candidates of PM are flawed, looking at the top 3:

1. "Mursyidul Am": TG Nik Aziz Nik Mat - Too Old!


2. President: TG Hadi Awang - A failure in administration in Terengganu, such that he failed to get his government re-elected after 1 term.


3. Deputy President: Muhammad Sabu... Mat Sabu?!?!... MAT SABU AS PM?!?!?!?!... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Are there other candidates in the lower echelons? Perhaps? A fan favourite in the past that has had his lustre fade as problems keep popping up in Kelantan and his close association with DS Anwar Ibrahim is revealed, is Husam Musa. However, Husam has never been able to capture the imagination of the PAS grassroots as a candidate for leadership beyond his home state, and after all, the PM is for all Malaysians, not just for Kelantanese.

The irony is, the problem PAS is facing now is of their own doing! There was one rather impressive individual which in this blogger and many others' view would have been a viable PM candidate for PAS, former Deputy President Nasharuddin Mat Isa! The 2 term Parliamentarian is urbane, moderate and so open minded over collaboration, he was even willing to consider friendship with UMNO!

2 events personally define Nasharuddin Mat Isa to this blogger. The first was when I bumped into him having breakfast at the Meridien KL's 6th floor coffee house just prior to Parliament. He openly welcomed me to join him for a brief chat, sort of a polite introduction to each other short of a GTKY, and his urbanity and intelligence shone through.

The second was when this blogger attended Hassan Ali's invitation to bloggers to clear the air over his expulsion from the Selangor Exco. Nasharuddin was the only senior PAS leader to loyally make an appearance that night and he was unapologetic about it! Here was a man who knew that loyalty is the only true currency in politics and holding on to the truth no matter what is the only true mark of a moral leader.

Unfortunately, for 'Nasha', he resisted the influences of DS Anwar... resulting in his now being in limbo! And he is thrown into limbo, and so PAS loses its one viable candidate for PM for this PRU13! One wonders really if this is in PAS' interest or the interest of DS Anwar Ibrahim...

In the meantime, Nasha proves himself to be indeed a lost PM candidate, remaining relevant in the Islamic NGO scene, projecting himself slowly in the global stage and continuing to be a credit to Malaysia...

Compare this to what I said of Mat Sabu earlier... preferred choice of Darth Juburius!!!

The Lost Viable PMs Of Pakatan Rakyat: DAP

PRU13 may well be turning into more than just a battle between potential winnable candidates offered by each party, but a battle of winnable Prime Ministers that will likely lead the government should either side win. As candidates become less appealing or indeed if they remain annonymous to the electorate, the more a party relies on the candidate on offer for Prime Minister.

For the longest time, the battle has been expected to be one between DS Najib Tun Razak as the BN candidate for Prime Minister against DS Anwar Ibrahim as the Pakatan candidate. However, DS Anwar Ibrahim has always lacked appeal to a significant section of the electorate, being an ex-con - having been convicted for abuse of power, being party to much of the suspected corruption in UMNO and BN when he was Finance Minister, even seen as incompetent by some.

And of course there is the 'sex thing' with DS Anwar that seems undignified.

Perhaps this is why DS Anwar's partners in Pakatan Rakyat seem to be pushing agendas of their own, with DAP leader Karpal Singh clearly stating his aim to have a non-Malay Prime Minister chosen, probably referring to Lim Guan Eng, the Penang CM as their likeliest candidate. Of course, Guan Eng's capacity to administer is now put in question as he seems quite incapable of even organising a legal AGM and party elections for the DAP...

Nonwithstanding Guan Eng's apparent popularity as CM in Penang, which is not really a mark of genius considering his predecessor was the supremely unpopular, over-educated yet 'bean-like' and suspected racist TS Koh Tsu Koon, Guan Eng's failure to manage the recent DAP elections is monumental. His management of the aftermath of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) non-recognition of the election results has actually made matters worse!

The idea of having DAP candidates contest under the PAS banner in Peninsular Malaysia and PKR banner in East Malaysia was not just unneccessary (DAP is not de-listed yet, there is time even after PRU13 to recover with an EGM or re-do of an AGM), it undermined DAP's candidates with PAS gleefully claiming that they welcome DAP's support of 'Hudud' laws. PKR of course is a highly unpopular party in East Malaysia, seen as a 'Peninsular' party.

And so at the eve of PRU13, the DAP has lost its only viable candidate for PM and must rely on the DS Anwar Ibrahim offering... surely Karpal is fuming...

A Battle For Power And The Soul Of PAS Rages As PRU13 Unfolds

Consider the following:

With the rise of Mat Sabu and the so far demise of Nasharuddin Mat Isa following Hassan Ali's expulsion from PAS' leadership line, the so called 'Erdogan' or pro-Anwar Ibrahim group has never been so close to seizing power in PAS. So, sure enough, despite the importance of PRU13 to DS Anwar Ibrahim personally and in fact to all the Rakyat... personally also(!), party politics are being played out in PAS(!), with...

1. The attack on the personal character of Mustapha Ali through the revelation of a (likely fake) sex video, that Pakatan insiders have indicated are likely not by UMNO or any other Barisan Nasional component! An attack on Mustapha Ali is an attack on PAS President TG Hadi Awang himself, who besides the politically less effective Harun Din, is the last remaining bastion against Erdogan control of PAS. Mustapha is Hadi's 'enforcer' or rather 'consiglieri' in the party.


2. Looking back, this follows year-long attacks on another TG Hadi ally and anti-Erdogan stalwart, Kedah MB Syed Azizan. The main contenders against Azizan are Erdogan leaning at least.


3. PKR candidates competing against PAS candidates in what would otherwise have been safe  or at worse grey seats for PAS in Terengganu. Similar tussles such as in Pantai Acheh are just thrown in to confuse the real purpose - a sabotaging of PAS' albeit slim chances of winning Terengganu! This is to ensure TG Hadi Awang has no chance of regaining the powerful position of Menteri Besar of the state that would make him unassailable.


4. TG Hadi Awang himself suddenly attacking PKR visciously in the state, probably realising that these moves by PKR are part of a strategy towards ousting TG Hadi Awang himself, perhaps through a forced retirement, to allow Mat Sabu to be acting President of PAS (!) or even to open the door for the more credible Salahuddin Ayubb or an Erdogan Ulama to topple TG Hadi.

That this madness is happening in PAS during PRU13 is further evidence of the insanity that surrounds DS Anwar Ibrahim. Perhaps like the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, DS Anwar is so imbued in the Dark Side that everything around him, including his allies, are just naturally corrupted! May he not succeed in his grasp for power unlike Sidous who eventually became Emperor in that famous space opera!

DARTH JUBURIUS GLOATING OVER HIS 'DEATH STAR'

PS what does that make Mat Sabu? Anakin Skywalker?!?! Naaaaah.... more like Jar Jar Binks! So easily duped!