DON’T EXPECT ‘HONOR’ FROM MAHATHIR – INSTEAD BRACE FOR ‘RACIAL FIREWORKS’: AS DR M REFUSES TO STEP DOWN AFTER TANJUNG PIAI DEBACLE – ANWAR & PAKATAN LEADERSHIP MUST VOTE HIM OUT BEFORE HE & BERSATU ULTRAS TWIST & TURN THEIR DISGRACEFUL LOSS INTO A NON-MALAY ‘UPRISING’ AGAINST THE MALAYS

Anwar’s response to the just concluded Tanjung Piai by-election “punishment” is apparently “shock” – but a seasoned politico like Anwar had no doubt read the tea leaves. The grand poohbah has said that the Pakatan Harapan manifesto is meaningless. Anwar should get the message that, for a significant number of the Harapan base, it is not.

When I said that a victory in Tanjung Piai is a victory for either Papagomo or the Perak MB, this translates to politics as usual which Anwar, unfortunately, does not fare well in. BN will rightly spin this as a victory for the kind of Malaysia they want and Harapan supporters should not dismiss this as just an aberration, a one-off punishment for Harapan.

The old maverick will certainly not see this as a referendum of his stewardship, and it will be interesting to see how those Malay operatives in Harapan aligned with Mahathir play the race and religion card in this defeat.

Some political pundits will claim that Harapan’s defeat was teaching the old maverick a lesson. So we shot ourselves in the foot when we voted Dr Mahathir Mohamad in and we will continue shooting ourselves on the other foot if he remains. Is this the strategy? Apropos everything, how is withholding aid from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) working out for you, Mr Finance Minister?

Anwar has to demonstrate that he is not merely waiting docilely in the corner for a chance to test, if the faith of his supporters is misplaced by his ascendancy to the highest office in the land.

Recent public comments by the prime minister-in-waiting are a welcome change from the unerklärter Krieg (undeclared war) that is currently raging in PKR. As someone who has made it clear, he hopes Anwar will be the next prime minister of this country. I am also someone who has meticulously chronicled every Anwar misstep since the historic Harapan win.

The great crime that the current prime minister visited upon Anwar and his family was to destroy Anwar’s political career using the instruments of race and religion, thereby making it extremely difficult for Anwar to navigate the oftentimes hypocritical terrain of race and religion in this country.

Is it any wonder, that Anwar is wary of not spooking the Malays? The irony of all of this is that Anwar has always been the most dangerous to the far-right when he was on a multi-racial populist platform.

He was always the most dangerous to the establishment when he surrounded himself with young firebrands who understood that “ketuanan” and religiosity had taken Malay power as far it could go – and with a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, a new vision of “Malay” leadership was needed.

Unacceptable behaviour

Anwar’s recent pugilistic comments regarding the “cartel” should be the start, not the end of his agenda of establishing a new order in Harapan. Also important is Anwar’s warning of the consequences if he felt “threatened”.

Folks within PKR who have animosity towards Anwar – but who have not openly acknowledged to me that they do not want Anwar to be the next prime minister – have called and texted me, saying that this is unacceptable behaviour.

My answer to this is that it is perfectly acceptable and I welcome political consequences for anyone colluding with elements from the far-right who want to derail the process of Anwar becoming the next prime minister. Let me be very clear. I have very little interest in the internal squabbles of a political party.

However, once someone conspires with the far-right and other political parties to delegitimise or derail the succession plan, then, in my view, it is open season on these traitors. Anwar is finally demonstrating that he has the cajones to take on political operatives not only from his party but also from outsiders who only have mala fide intent when it comes to PKR’s leadership.

What I find despicable about this whole fiasco, is that, clearly, PKR and the DAP are a threat to the system by virtue of being multi-racial parties. Political operatives in Harapan who are siding with the far-right and other political parties are weakening the foundation of what could be a new Malaysia.

I know many DAP and PKR reps who are struggling because their efforts are being hampered by the political plays of power brokers jockeying for power and positions. They have to be wary because they never know when they are going to have the rug pulled out from under them. They do not have the backing of Malay political operatives who should be working with them in creating a new Malaysia.

It all starts with Malay leadership that wants change. It starts with Malay leadership that would back up the plays of non-Malay political operatives in Harapan – the most important non-Malay leadership which is not part of the cult of old Malaysian politics.

When Anwar says something like this – “Our party does not talk about poverty according to race. If you wish to remain in PKR, you cannot deviate from this. We champion all (races),” all this is anathema to race-based parties. They fear that a majority of voters may actually realise that their self-interests would be better served if they think collectively and not communally.

He has to clearly articulate a vision of Malaysia, which is the opposite vision of what Mahathir and the far-right have for this country.

For instance, don’t engage in identity politics by blaming the “urban elite”. Instead, carry out rural development programmes that are not bound by the economic imperatives of plutocrats.

Don’t use the religious bureaucracy as a means of cultural indoctrination, instead use it to disburse aid for all races, thereby inculcating the idea that the state-sanctioned religion takes care of all Malaysians.

Revamp the education system so that it creates a polity that is not dependent on the government and is competitive in this fast-changing geopolitical landscape.

If Anwar does not do this, then he will suffer the same fate as most leaders in this country. He will be overwhelmed by the far right.

In the end, nobody gives you power, you have to take it.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy

MKINI

Time To Welcome Anwar As PM8, Says DAP

New Malaysia has witnessed a shocking and depressing way of Rakyat telling the current government to take immediate action against the dissatisfaction among the people on the PH government’s performance since 9th May 2018. Rakyat has spoken through the Tg. Piai by-election when the opposition won the by-election with overwhelming majority. It’s a hattrick for them. Let me remind everyone on a survey conducted recently to measure the popularity and the support our present government is having since forming the Government at the Federal level. The survey shows that PH popularity has plummeted to 35% since 9th May 2018.

Of course these surveys need to be validated and explained. However, one cannot deny that it is a shocking result for a government that had received over 80% of people’s support during last GE14. Many people hoped that it is a new beginning for a new Malaysia. All the people regardless of age, gender, race, beliefs, education background have threw their support and stood strongly behind each and every MPs and ADUNs from PH. Many Malaysians from different parts of the world came back during the GE14 just to vote for a change, for better and new Malaysia. I myself has witnessed their presence. The spirit of the people for a real change was at the peak during GE14. However, after a year being a Federal government, we are now in a situation to asses the level of support the PH coalition is having especially when various issues and problems are testing the credibility and the effectiveness of the PH government.

In addition, As mentioned earlier, it was reported that PH received about 25-35% of support from the Malay community in the last GE14. The rest of the support which is about 65-75% were from the Non-Malays. The main reason why PH had received this little support from Malays because they were sceptical with the new PH government whether they will be able to protect and defend the rights of Bumiputera in all aspects, protect the Federal Religion, National language as well as our Malay Monarchy system similar to the previous government. As witnessed by all of us, the Federal government actually lived up to the expectation of the people in protecting and defending these rights and systems of the Malays.

So far, Government neither amended nor disregard any part of the Constitution related to Bumiputera rights and special privileges in the Parliament. There is no attempt to take away these privileges even in the future. A good example is when government heeded the call of the Malay community and decided not to sign ICERD. Secondly, in order to strengthen the National language, Jawi was introduced and being implemented despite of resistance from certain quarters, including from moderate Malays. Many action plans are being prepared to empower our national language in a comprehensive manner. As for Islam as Federal religion, there is no compromises in taking action against those insulted the religion by the government. A Chinese man who insulted the Prophet Muhammad was jailed immediately.

Many Investigations against those insulted the religion are being carried out swiftly by the Police. Islamic Religious scholars such as Dr. Zakir Naik, Zamri Vinoth and many others are being protected and taken care against any attempts locally or internationally to arrest or stop their preaching, not to forgetting having dinner with foreign fugitive too. On the other hand, our Malaysians have been arrested under SOSMA with the reason that they are trying to revive a non existence organisation LTTE. At the same time, sanctity of the Monarchy system still being protected by the government and actions are being taken against those insulting our Malay Sultanates.

Withdrawing from Rome Statute in less than a month after signing is another example that PH government is actually care for the protection of Malay rights and always listening to their concerns. Furthermore, Malay Dignity Congress which was held recently where Malay leaders have reminded the Non-Malays about the ‘Social-Contract’ and warned the Non-Malays who are labelled as ‘Pendatang Asing’ not to question the rights and privileges of Malay people but just enjoy whatever have been given to them so far reiterated the special position of the Malay people in Malaysia. The presence and keynote address delivered by our PM Tun Mahathir in the Congress is actually another example that our government is giving special attention to the Malays in this country. Maybe PH is trying to be more Malay compared to UMNO and more Islamic than PAS.

Despite of all these, the government is now bailing out several financially ill institutions such as FELDA, Tabung Haji using billions of tax payers money due to the mismanagement of previous government. However, till today, the people who are responsible for these losses and mismanagement have not been arrested or charged except one or two. Malaysians didn’t vote for these bailouts especially when the government is keep telling that our national debts already reached RM1 trillion mark. In contrast, PM constantly keep telling that we can’t fulfill all our manifesto because we do not have money to do so and PH was not expected to win the last GE14.

He also said manifesto is not a ‘bible’ to fulfill everything. IC/BC and stateless issues that affecting Indian community and recognising UEC should have been resolved within 100 days of the formation of PH Government but no solid efforts taken so far. These are few of the promises that do not required even one ringgit to fulfil. Malaysians also waiting for a real change in our education system. Instead of fulfilling these promises, government is focusing in changing the school shoe color, introducing flying cars and Khat, reviving crooked bridge and introducing third national car which no where we could find in our manifesto.

However, with all these activities and affirmative actions taken by our Government since forming the federal government to please certain quarters, we really need to know what is the percentage of the support receives by our PH from the existing Malay community. A reliable survey should be conducted by the government to know whether the support from Malay Community has increased or decreased or remaining same to evaluate the outcome from these actions. At the same time, the survey also should study the percentage of the support PH government is receiving from the Non-Malays currently. We need to know whether the government is losing support from Non-Malays (including Moderate Malays) due to the actions against them just to please one particular community or these actions are not affecting them at all.

Isn’t it a valid question to be asked in order to evaluate ourselves whether we are being fair and impartial to the people who have supported us all these while? Are we not obliged to check ourselves whether we are administering the country in the right track as fantasised by Majority of Malaysians? Questions shouldn’t remain as questions. It’s time to revamp the whole PH government to avoid further damages. It’s time to welcome our new PM, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. I also would like to quote our beloved PM who said people representatives should not blindly follow the government but should be dare enough to question their actions in order to correct the mistakes they are doing, when necessary. I’m following his advice now.

Ganabatirau Veraman

A Lot Of Reasons Why Pakatan Lost Tg Piai, Says Guan Eng

(FMT) – Lim Guan Eng said today that education issues such as MCA-linked Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman and the United Examination Certificate could have cost the DAP some Chinese votes, leading to Pakatan Harapan’s heavy defeat at the Tanjung Piai by-election.

Lim, who is DAP secretary-general, said “I think there are a lot of reasons behind it” when asked to comment on the swing of Chinese voters towards the Barisan Nasional.

His party collegue Teo Nie Ching had said earlier that issues revolving around UEC and the TAR university college had resulted in the swing of Chinese votes.

“Maybe this was one of the factors that BN and MCA exploited,” Lim said.

The by-election was won by BN candidate Wee Jeck Seng of MCA with an overwhelming 15,086-vote majority over his main rival, Karmaine Sardini (PH-PPBM) and four others.

During the election campaign, Lim had maintained that the MCA should relinquish control of TAR college as a condition for receiving RM30 million in a government grant, while MCA leaders had attacked him for his stand.

In 2018, as part of its general election promises, Pakatan Harapan had said it would recognise the UEC, the school-leaving certificate of Chinese-medium independent schools.

However, in July, the education ministry announced only that it had set up a committee to study and compile data about the examination.

Commenting further on the by-election defeat, Lim said it wasn’t enough for Pakatan Harapan to claim that the current government was unlike the kleptocratic administration of the past.

“The people want us to fulfil the promises made, so it is important that PH focuses on this,” he said.

DAP Leaders Can Leave Pakatan If Not Happy, Says PPBM

(NST) – Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties should re-examine themselves following the coalition’s defeat in the recent Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election and not pin the blame solely on Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

Bersatu Bagan division Youth chief Sayyid Mohammed Mubarak said the PH leadership should take the opportunity to address their own shortcomings and not try to sabotage one another.

“DAP should not be ungrateful… I hope the DAP leadership will control their own people when issuing statements, which is seen as ‘shooting oneself in the foot’.

“PH has its own channel for those who want to express their views. So ‘don’t wash your dirty linen in public’,” he said in reference to postings by DAP’s Seberang Prai City councillor David Marshel on his Facebook page following the coalition’s defeat.

In one of the postings, he had insinuated a new prime minister.

Sayyid said PH should not forget that without Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, they would not be able to form the government today.

He said DAP should equally bear responsibility for the coalition’s defeat and re-examine themselves as the party too had failed to attract the 41 per cent Chinese voters in Tanjung Piai.

“I hope the DAP leader will be mindful of their words so as to ensure it won’t affect the unity within PH.

“If David, who is also (Deputy Chief Minister II) Dr P. Ramasamy’s right hand man, dislikes Tun M’s leadership, perhaps he can leave PH and form a new party with Ramasamy. Enough is enough. We should stop the blame game.

“I also hope DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng will guide and advice his people, especially David, to be more matured in issuing statements in the future to protect the harmony among component parties in PH,” he added.

Sayyid said all should be patient as PH had only formed the government for more than a year now and had fulfilled 52 per cent of the manifesto it lined up in the 14th General Election (GE14).

Barisan Nasional (BN) took back the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat by a huge 15,086-vote majority on Saturday, 18 months after it lost the seat in the last general election to PH.

BN’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng, who had been a two-term Tanjung Piai Member of Parliament in the past, polled 25,466 votes, while PH’s candidate Karmaine Sardini received 10,380 votes.

Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam garnered 1,707 votes and Berjasa candidate Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz polled 850 votes. The two Independent candidates, Faridah Aryani Abd Ghani and Dr Ang Chuan Lock, only garnered 380 and 32 votes, respectively.

Time for authorities to update on sex video - Dr M's legal adviser

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's legal adviser, Haniff Khatri, said police and the Attorney-General's Chambers should update the public on the status of the investigation into the sex video implicating Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali as it has been more than five months.

Azmin had denied that the man, engaging in sex acts with former Santubong PKR Youth chief Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, was him and called it an attempt to destroy his political career.

"I hope Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador or Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, or both of them, can issue an official statement to inform the people on the latest status of the sex video case.

"Professionally speaking, after five months since the video emerged, it is of utmost importance that the authorities handling the case, be it the police or Attorney-General's Chambers' adviser on the case to issue an official statement on the status of the investigation into the video.

"This is to ensure that the rule of law is seen to be upheld and to dispel any negative perception about the delay in concluding this case," he said in a statement.

Haniff is not Mahathir's first adviser to have taken an interest in the case.

Mahathir's special media adviser A Kadir Jasin had in June weighed into the case and proceeded to give various instances of ministers resigning over various controversies. 

In July, Hamid said an analysis by Cybersecurity Malaysia confirmed the video was authentic but added that it could not be 100 percent certain of the individuals in the video.  - Mkini

Don't panic over Pakatan's defeat in Tg Piai by-election, says Salahuddin Ayub

SHAH ALAM: Parti Amanah Negara deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub has called for his party members not to panic over Pakatan Harapan's crushing defeat in the recent Tanjung Piai by-election.

"Be calm and don't push the panic button.

"We have to think and look at the big picture first," said Salahuddin.

Salahuddin told reporters after opening the party's Selangor chapter's annual convention here on Monday (Nov 18), that Amanah was looking at the defeat objectively.

He said it was quite common for the ruling government to lose in by-elections, because it was a venue for voters to send out signals.

"But when it comes to voting to form the government, the people will think differently," he added.

He said the defeat was a very strong signal, especially from the Chinese community, and it was a lesson learnt by Pakatan.

Given this, said Salahuddin, the Pakatan presidential council will be meeting this Saturday (Nov 23) to discuss what had gone wrong, and how the matter can be rectified.

He added he had some information to give the council based on his observations in Tanjung Piai.

"I was in Tanjung Piai for seven days working around the clock and I have something to tell the presidential council," he added.

Salahuddin said whatever initiative taken must not be piecemeal solutions or random statements.

"We cannot have solutions such as saying someone has to go or resign.

"Is that the solution?" asked Salahuddin.

He said the best option for Pakatan leaders now would be to go back to the drawing board and examine the issues thoroughly.

To a question if this meant the call by some quarters for Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to resign was not justified, Salahuddin that issue will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.

"If that is a factor, we will discuss it at the presidential council," he added.- Star

Minister to take test ride in flying car on Thursday

A model of a prototype “flying car” which was shown to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Lima air show in March.

KUALA LUMPUR: Entrepreneur Development Minister Redzuan Yusof is to take a test ride in Malaysia’s “flying car” on Thursday, and he invited opposition MPs to witness the test run of the vehicle, also known as the air mobility platform.

Speaking at the Dewan Rakyat today, Redzuan said: “I want to repeat my invitation to the respected MPs. This Thursday, I myself will be riding the flying vehicle or two-man vehicle.

“I invite Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar) if he wants to come. If he wants to take pictures while sitting on it as it flies, we can sit together,” he said.

At this, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof compalined in jest that he had not been invited to view the test run, drawing laughter from the benches.

Redzuan replied: “If we have time and there’s no session after 2pm please come to Subang.”

The “flying car” project, by a private Malaysian company, was announced at the Langkawi air and maritime show earlier this year and drew derision and sarcastic comments on social media and scepticism from opposition MPs.

In March, the vehicle’s developers, Aerodyne Group, said the car, known as Vector, is a drone powered by four motors running off a lithium-ion battery

It is expected to carry a load of up to 150-200kg and will be able fly about 50m above ground level at 60km/h for between 30 and 90 minutes.

The vehicle could be used to transport people and cargo and also be used for surveillance, the company said.

Redzuan told the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysians were “hesitant followers” when it came to embracing innovation, adding that it was difficult to implement new forms of innovation in the country.

He said the government is looking at shaping entrepreneurs and leaders who had the right understanding and awareness of new technology, stressing that Malaysia needs to move in accordance with international development.

There was a need for a change of mindset if Malaysia wanted to embrace new ways to stimulate growth.

“I’m not the only one responsible. We are all responsible as leaders, whether in the government or opposition, to ensure the community is shaped in our efforts to develop Malaysia as an entrepreneurial nation by 2030,” he said.

Redzuan made his remarks during the debate on the 2020 budget allocation for his ministry. - FMT