The wheat from the chaff

Now, just like many of you, I was ecstatic in March 2008 when Pakatan Rakyat won five states and managed to deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament by winning 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats. Then things began to take a turn and things were no longer honky-dory and peachy-rosy. We began to detect some characteristics of Barisan Nasional in Pakatan Rakyat.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(The Malaysian Insider, 14 May 2013) - The results of the recent general election show that Umno is as strong as ever despite Barisan Nasional losing the popular vote, according to a Straits Times (Singapore) report today.

Writing in the Singapore daily, James Chin, a senior visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas), argued that many Malaysians are misreading the situation and think that Umno is weak.

He said Umno today is as strong as it was in 1971, adding that it is BN that is dying, not Umno.

“The Malay heartland, all in rural areas, backed Umno and that is why it increased its number of parliamentary seats and why there is an Umno-alone government in Kuala Lumpur today,” he wrote. 

Chin said it has become increasingly clear in the past two decades that Umno is now BN and BN is Umno.Umno accounts for just less than half of Cabinet ministers. In Parliament, the overwhelming bloc within BN is always Umno. In 2008, Umno won 79 seats out of BN’s 140. This year, Umno won 88 out of BN’s 133 seats. In percentage terms, this translates to 56 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.

“Today after 56 years of independence, Umno still controls the rural Malay mind. Yes, it is true Umno has lost control over large sections of the Malay community in urban areas. Under Malaysia’s electoral system, it is the rural seats that decide the federal government, not urban seats. Urban seats account for less than a quarter of Malaysia’s 222 parliamentary seats while about 150 seats are Malay/Bumiputera-majority seats,” he wrote.

Chin argued that Umno is unlikely to reform in time for the 14th GE, and does not need to. “As long as the first-past-the-post system continues to allot disproportionate weight to rural voters, all Umno has to do is to keep the fire of Ketuanan Melayu and Ketuanan Islam burning brightly in rural Malaysia,” he said.

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I am not going to repeat what I have already written in parts 1-11 in my series of post-May 5th articles in The Corridors of Power. Just read the parts marked red above, which reinforces what I have already said. I will just say: I rest my case.

Now read the news item below regarding former British Cabinet minister Chris Huhne.

People ask me what the hell I want. I whack Barisan Nasional. Then I whack Pakatan Rakyat. They tell me that I must make up my mind and decide which of the two I support. I need to support one and whack the other. I cannot whack both at the same time and not support either one.

Well, that is how the mind of a third-world citizen works. And, as Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, Malaysia has first-world infrastructure but people with third-world mentality. And even back when Pak Lah said that (at the time he was still the Prime Minister) I agreed with him and said so openly (even though I opposed him with zeal). 

Yes, just because we may disagree with the man that does not mean we must disagree with everything he says. When he is right we agree and when he is wrong we disagree.

Okay, before I go on, I have titled my article today ‘The wheat from the chaff’. This means ‘to choose what is of high quality over what is of lower quality’ or ‘to choose the things or people that are of high quality from a group of mixed quality’. In short, as I have said many times before, we avoid pouring old wine into a new bottle.

Now, just like many of you, I was ecstatic in March 2008 when Pakatan Rakyat won five states and managed to deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament by winning 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats. Then things began to take a turn and things were no longer honky-dory and peachy-rosy. We began to detect some characteristics of Barisan Nasional in Pakatan Rakyat.

That was in 2010.

We soon found out that corruption was being perpetuated in the new Pakatan Rakyat state governments. You may argue that the corruption is not as serious as when these states were under Barisan Nasional. There may be some corruption, but it is ‘small’ corruption, not ‘big’ corruption, like in the federal government.

Okay, the corruption may be small, you may say. Agreed! But it is small only because Pakatan has been in power for only two years (in 2010) and they are running just a few states and not the federal government. Do we want to wait 50 years when the corruption is already cancerous before protesting? Would that not be too late and would not too much damage have been done by then?

We found out that certain Pakatan Rakyat leaders were collaborating with big-time businessmen who are actually Barisan Nasional cronies and who made hundreds of millions ripping off the country with the help of Umno/Barisan Nasional.

We found out that the sand-mining scam, which used to be an Umno cash cow, is now a PKR cash cow.

We found out that the PKR lawyers and their cronies/families are getting legal work at higher prices than what the non-crony/family lawyers would have charged. Furthermore, the invoices for the legal work were based on lump-sum figures with no details or breakdown.

Do you know that Anwar Ibrahim wanted Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim to pay John Soh Chee Wen RM2 million, the outstanding rental on PKR’s headquarters, but Khalid refused to do so?

Now you know why ‘they’ are so angry with Khalid Ibrahim and accuse him of being so tight-fisted (kedekut) -- because he refuses to use or abuse state government money to pay for the party’s expenses. Khalid should be given a medal rather than vilified and called a lame duck.

And all that is merely the tip of the iceberg. Many more ‘funny’ things are going on which many of you are not aware of. However, if I were to list down all the transgressions, you will scream ‘fitnah’ and will demand proof. On the legal fees involving the PKR lawyers I did publish the evidence. But what happened after that? Yes, what happened after that? Tell me!

As the Malays would say: Dah malas nak cakap! You people can go on and believe what you want to believe. No need for me to say anything any more.

Okay, now look at the news report below. A British Cabinet Minister, Chris Huhne, was sacked and was sent to jail together with his wife for a mere traffic offense. That’s right, a mere traffic offense. Yet he lost his job and got sent to jail.

Now, Chris was a Member of Parliament for Eastleigh and a Minister from my party, the Liberal Democratic Party. In the by-election, however, Lib Dem won back that seat (so it looks like the voters forgave us for that ‘mistake’).

So you see, in the UK, we jail a Minister and his wife for just a traffic offense. And Chris is finished. Kaput! His political career has been totally destroyed. In Malaysia, however, we select them to, again, contest the 2013 general election and allow them a second term.

I have not seen Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s list of EXCO Members but I am prepared to bet that some of these crooks and scoundrels are going to, yet again, be appointed EXCO Members. And I shudder to imagine who will be on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s Cabinet Minister list.

And you want me to declare whom I will support and whom I will whack, is it? You cannot understand why I whack both and don’t support either, is it? You cannot understand why I want politicians, even if they are Ministers, to be sent to jail for a mere traffic offense, is it?

Well, you cannot understand because you are dishonest. You have no principles. You will scream when it comes to Barisan Nasionals’ corruption but you will tutup mata (close your eyes) when it comes to Pakatan Rakyat’s corruption.

And don’t give me that crap about Malaysia is not the UK and Malaysia is not ready for such ‘high standards’ and all that other nonsense. There is no such thing as ‘right time’ and ‘wrong time’ to be honest. Either you are honest or else you are a crook. No two ways about it.

And also don’t start asking that stupid question that you always ask me: so you want us to reject Pakatan Rakyat and choose Barisan Nasional, is it? That is another third-world mentality type of question. I am asking you to separate the wheat from the chaff irrespective of political affiliations. And if you don’t get this then you deserve the government you currently have.

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Former UK minister and ex-wife freed from prison

(AP, 13 May 2013) - LONDON: Former British Cabinet minister Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce have been freed from prison after each serving two months of their eight-month sentences.

The pair had been convicted of charges stemming from a 2003 speeding ticket. Pryce had told authorities she was driving even though her then-husband was at the wheel. 

The 58-year-old Huhne had pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice; Pryce was convicted after a trial. 

Pryce, 60, said in a statement Friday she is pleased to be home and looks forward to returning to her career as an economist. 

Former Energy Secretary Huhne did not offer an immediate comment. Many experts say his political career has been virtually destroyed by the speeding ticket scandal.