Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Plans for action against Malaysian bloggers

Plans for action against Malaysian bloggers
posted by Daniel Chandranayagam on Aug 27, 2008

Despite jubilation over the Opposition’s win in the 26th August by-elections, political bloggers in Malaysia face the sobering prospect of the government taking tougher action against blog and website owners.

Online news has reported that the government is serious in countering online allegations against them by taking alleged wrongdoers to court for defamation and sedition. This decision was said to have been reached during a meeting last week involving several Cabinet ministers and senior government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The government now realises that online news is the preferred information source over mainstream media for Malaysians. It was reported that the government understands the significance of leaving online allegations unchecked, especially after their failing to secure two-thirds majority in the lower Parliamentary house during the August 11th elections, as well as the recent landslide victory of Opposition icon, Anwar Ibrahim, during yesterday’s by-elections in Permatang Pauh.


After decades of managing information through mainstream media through legislation, the government faces frustration with the availability of online information. Malaysia’s Communications & Multimedia Act 1998 disallows censorship of the Internet, leaving the government only three legal alternatives: on a national level, sedition and the provisions under Internal Security Act 1960 (which allows for detention without trial); and on a private level, defamation law suits (see also Jeff Ooi on defamation).

This year has seen the government dealing with blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (or RPK) for sedition, while there are ongoing investigations against blogger Sheih, also for sedition. Blogger Bakaq was taken in recently for questioning, also for alleged sedition. Aside from this, RPK faces a defamation action. As such, the stance of the government against blogger appears quite clear. Critics have called for less focus on alternative news, but rather greater accountability and transparency. They have also called for the abolition of the legal shackles on the mainstream media.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Malaysiakini muncul laman berita No 1

Jul 8, 08 6:21pm

Malaysiakini muncul sebagai laman berita paling popular di negara ini, demikian menurut perkhidmatan pemeringkatan portal internet, Alexa.com.

Pencapaian terbaru ini kali pertama laman berita bebas yang ditubuhkan sejak 1999 berjaya memintas The Star Online dalam kedudukan tersebut.

Kesemua - kecuali dua dalam senarai 15 teratas - adalah laman web antarabangsa seperti Yahoo (1), Google (2), Friendster (3), YouTube (4) dan Blogger (5).

Satu-satunya laman web Malaysia selain Malaysiakini yang berada dalam pemeringkatan senarai 15 teratas ialah portal perbankan dalam talian Maybank2u,com.my di tempat ke-13.

Laman berita lain yang berada dalam senarai 50 teratas termasuklah The Star (16), Utusan Malaysia (18), Berita Harian (30), Malaysia Today (31), Harian Metro (34) dan Harakah Daily (36).





Malaysiakini muncul laman berita No 1


Yang menarik, antaranya, blog Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad - Chedet.com - yang hanya berusia beberapa bulan berada di tangga ke-60.

Pada masa yang sama, seksyen bahasa Melayu Malaysiakini pula berada di tempat kedua selepas Utusan Malaysia bagi kategori media internet edisi bahasa Melayu, manakala seksyen bahasa Cina juga di tempat kedua selepas Sin Chew Daily.

Kayu pengukur populariti

Pemeringkatan Alexa dibuat melalui analisis penggunaan laman web oleh jutaan pengguna Toolbars Alexa dan maklumat yang diperolehi daripada sumber-sumber data perkhidmatan internet yang lain.

Bagaimanapun, Alexa bukanlah kayu pengukur muktamad dalam menyukar populariti sesebuah laman web dan kaedahnya juga pernah dipertikai oleh beberapa pihak dalam industri tersebut.

Trafik Malaysiakini telah melonjak naik dengan begitu ketara sekali sejak pilihanraya umum 8 Mac lalu.

Dalam bulan itu sahaja, laman berita tersebut dilayari oleh 2,134,301 pengunjung unik mutlak.



"Walaupun Malaysiakini merupakan laman berita yang dilanggan, tetapi kita masih mencatatkan peningkatan, berbanding dengan laman web percuma.

"Perkembangan ini satu pencapaian yang membanggakan," kata ketua pegawai eksekutif, Premesh Chandran.

Sehubungan itu, katanya, Malaysiakini akan menimbang untuk menambah kandungannya selain daripada berita-berita hal-ehwal semasa.

Ia juga telah melancarkan portal remaja voize.my pada 1 Julai lalu dan beberapa lagi dalam perancangan.

Sementara itu, 10 wartawan Malaysiakini merupakan kumpulan pertama menerima kad media daripada Kementerian Penerangan.

Tidak termasuk penulis blog

Kelulusan ini kali pertama diberikan kepada media internet oleh kementerian berkenaan.


"Saya menemui menteri penerangan Datuk Shabery Cheek bulan lalu dan telah berbincang mengenai kad rasmi tersebut.

"Beliau berkata, kementerian akan menimbang permohonan kami (mendapatkan kad tersebut)," kata ketua pengarang Malaysiakini, Steven Gan.

"Kita telah menunggu hampir sembilan tahun untuk mendapatkan kad rasmi tersebut. Kad tersebut pasti memudahkan lagi tugas kami," tambahnya.

Sejak Malaysiakini dilancarkan, wartawannya sering ditegah menghadiri sidang akhbar oleh pemimpin kerajaan dan polis.

Malah, Malaysiakini terpaksa mendapatkan kebenaran khas daripada menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz untuk membuat liputan sidang Parlimen sejak beberapa tahun lalu.

Menurut laporan New Straits Times, ketua setiausaha Kementerian Penerangan, Datuk Kamaruddin Siaraf telah meluluskan 10 laman berita baru untuk kad rasmi tersebut.

Selain Malaysiakini, portal berita lain yang layak menerima kad rasmi tersebut termasuklah Agenda Daily dan Malaysian Insider.

Bagaimanapun, para penulis blog tidak termasuk dalam pengiktirafan kerajaan terhadap wartawan dalam talian.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Dialogue on media freedom

Dialogue on media freedom
KUALA LUMPUR: A dialogue session between Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, members of the media and representatives of civil society will be the highlight of a talk on Media Freedom and Responsibilities tomorrow.

The talk will be held at the National Press Club's (NPC) clubhouse at 84, Jalan Tangsi, Kuala Lumpur, at 10am.

NPC and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the biggest body representing journalists working in mainstream media, are jointly hosting the event.

NUJ president Norila Mohd Daud urged all NUJ members to attend. She said among the issues to be discussed are media freedom, relevant laws like the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and free flow of information.

Norila said the event would end with the handing over of a resolution on the future of media freedom to Zaid.

Among the organisations taking part in the event are, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Benar, a cyber group championing free and fair media, the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) and the National Alliance of Bloggers (All-Blogs).

Benar clarified in its website on Friday that there would be no gathering at Dataran Merdeka to walk to the NPC.

It urged participants to head to NPC for the talk. Norila also urged NUJ members to go directly to the NPC.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Friday, May 9, 2008

Penahanan Raja Petra ancaman kepada blogger penyokong Pakatan Rakyat

Penahanan Raja Petra ancaman kepada blogger penyokong Pakatan Rakyat

Friday, 09 May 2008

Apa yang menimpa Raja Petra boleh dilihat sebahagian dari taktik licik untuk memulihkan Umno dan BN pasca PRU Ke 12.

Tarmizi Mohd Jam, HARAKAH

Apakah penahanan blogger Raja Petra merupakan sebahagian dari serang balas Barisan Nasional (BN) terhadap usaha "membunuh" pengaruh Pakatan Rakyat? -->-->

Ketika penulis diundang berceramah bersama Ahli Parlimen Batu, Tian Chua dan Naib Presiden PAS, Mohamad Sabu di Sentul pada malam Raja Petra menjadi tetamu Rancangan BLOG RTM, terdapat satu maklumat yang boleh dikongsi bersama.

Tian Chua membangkit tentang terdapatnya usaha dari dalam Umno untuk "memanaskan" pertandingan dalam parti yang kian nazak itu pada Disember depan.

Pertempuran antara kumpulan anak Badawi + Najib dengan kumpulan Ku Li dijangka akan "meletup" dan "memburai" dengan kempen-kempen yang di luar kawalan.

Sudah tentulah Ku Li akan bekerja kuat untuk menumpaskan anak Badawi dan anak Badawi juga akan bekerja keras untuk mempertahankan serambi kuasanya.

Antara Ku Li dan anak Badawi, maka kecenderungan anak Badawi untuk berbuat apa sahaja lebih berpotensi dengan segala kemudahan, modal dan penasihat rakus di sekelilingnya.

Kata Tian Chua dan kemudian disokong oleh Mohamad Sabu dalam ceramah berikutnya; apabila bahang kempen dalam Umno menjadi panas, Umno akan dikelam-kabutkan, media ligat tonjolkan isu ketidakstabilan politik yang ketara.

"Negara dalam bahaya", begitulah adanya!

Macam yang dibuat MMMM di Johor itu.

Membakar perkauman Melayu dengan harapan yang satu, mereka bangkit. Bangkit untuk apa? Ini kena dijawab oleh Umno! "Melayu dalam bahaya", begitulah adanya juga!

Apabila bahang panas membakar rentung hati dan perasaan perwakilan dan ahli-ahli Umno akar umbi, maka ketika ini, ada strategi licik yang dikatakan akan diatur untuk menangkap pemimpin-pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat dengan perangkap Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) dan menyumbat mereka di Kem Tahanan Kamunting, selama yang mungkin.

Apa yang menimpa Raja Petra boleh dilihat sebahagian dari taktik licik untuk memulihkan Umno dan BN pasca PRU Ke 12.

Taktik licik ini bukan sahaja menyiarkan siaran langsung sidang parlimen dan mengundang blogger ke Angkasapuri untuk berdebat dalam Rancangan BLOG, tetapi jauh lebih licik asalkan matlamatnya memulihkan Umno yang sudah mati pucuk itu berjaya bertenaga semula.

Penahanan Raja Petra saya lihat sebagai usaha "memutihkan" mana-mana blogger yang berani membongkar kepincangan BN dan juaknya, dari terus menjadi "hantu" Pakatan Rakyat.

Malah ada yang meramalkan, selepas ini lebih banyak tangkapan akan dibuat atas apa jua sebab yang boleh disabit dengan kesalahan mengikut akta-akta yang begitu banyak boleh digunakan.

Jika kebimbangan Tian Chua dan Mohd Sabu diambil kira, sudah pasti tiada apa halangan untuk anak Badawi berbuat strategi demikian bagi mengekalkan kuasa.

Ku Li barangkali hanya menjadi faktor sampingan yang diperelokkan bagi menjayakan strategi ini.
Sama seperti Umno mengeksploitasikan isu serangan Karpal Singh terhadap istana Perak dalam cerita penukaran 24 jam Pengarah JAIP oleh Menteri Besarnya, Nizar Jamaluddin.

Semua pihak dalam Umno berkokok dan menjerit mempertahankan institusi Sultan. Walhal, mereka jugalah yang menikus dan menikam institusi itu.

Paling dekat, dalam perlantikan Menteri Besar Perlis, Dr Mohd Isa Sabu.

Istana dengan jelas menolak kemahuan anak Badawi (Umno) mengekalkan Shahidan Kassim.

Apa yang Shahidan buat? Penyokongnya bertindak macam mana di Perlis?

Sekalipun berakhir dengan "patah hati".

Tragedi yang sama juga tercetus di Terengganu. Idris Jusoh terpelanting "ditendang" oleh istana sekalipun watikah Perdana Menteri dijadikan sandaran sokongan kerajaan BN ke atas beliau.

Slogan "Kami Nak Deris, Natang!" jauh lebih teruk sifat penghinaan dan penderhakaan oleh penyokong Idris Jusoh ketika menentang penolakan Istana Terengganu terhadap mantan MB itu berbanding Karpal yang hanya mengulas berdasarkan fakta dan undang-undang.

Nampaknya, serangan diatur rapi dalam usaha menjatuhkan Karpal Singh yang sudah tentu bertujuan untuk "membunuh" imej Pakatan Rakyat.

Kini media prmitif kuasaan mereka menggambarkan semua pemimpin PKR, PAS dan DAP tidak sensitif dengan isu-isu membabitkan kesultanan Melayu.

Esok lusa, tulat tonggeng, pastinya ia terus dimainkan.

Harapan mereka, isu ini akan membangkitkan rasa kebangsaan Melayu di kalangan rakyat untuk menyokong Umno kembali.

Namun, tafsiran dan ramalan mereka kian meleset.

Jika pendedahan Tian Chua itu jadi kenyataan, maka amatlah malang bagi demokrasi di Malaysia. Rakyat harus menghalang dari perkara ini terjadi.

Namun kebimbangan Tian Chua bertempat.

Logiknya ada. Relevannyapun kuat. Tiada apa sekatan untuk anak Badawi melancarkan strategi ini, selagi kuasa ada ditangan.

Strategi ini pernah dibuktikan berjaya dalam Operasi Lallang sekitar tahun 1987 oleh Dr Mahathir yang sedang "nyawa-nyawa ikan" pada waktu itu.

Niat asalnya untuk menahan ISA para pemimpin PAS dan DAP yang lantang.

Namun, beberapa pemimpin Umno juga turut ditahan sebagai "wayang pacak" bagi menunjukkan tangkapan itu tidak berat sebelah.

Isu Melayu dimainkan. Poster diedar mengundang orang-orang Melayu berhimpun di Stadium TPCA, Kg. Baru. Bawa sekecil-kecil; senjata mancis api. Antara orang kuatnya ketika itu Ibrahim Ali, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman dan ramai lagi.

Beberapa akhbar termasuk The Star dan Watan, digantung permit penerbitannya. Ia kelihatan betul-betul gawat dan membahayakan.

Ketika itu bahang panas dari pertarungan Ku Li + Mahathir berebut kerusi Presiden Umno.

Hingga membawa kepada pengharaman parti berpengaruh (Umno) itu dan sokongan terhadap Mahathir dinilai dengan kelebihan hanya 43 undi.

Itupun dengan beberapa taktik kotor dijalankan oleh Mahathir untuk menongkat kuasa.

Taktik kotor itulah yang mnejadi punca Umno diharamkan dan akibatnya Tun Salleh Abbas, Ketua Hakim Negara dan beberapa hakim lain dipecat.

Semua penyokong Pakatan Rakyat harus memainkan peranan positif bagi menjaga keamanan dan sekaligus menyekat sebarang "niat" jahat pemimpin Umno untuk mengISAkan pemimpin terpilih dari Pakatan Rakyat ini.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Faux Pas By Datuk Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad

Faux Pas By Datuk Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad

Posted by Raja Petra
Thursday, 01 May 2008

By Little Bird

Tengku Sarifudin faux pas is not pronounced 'fox pass'.

It is pronounced 'four par'. It means a bad mistake, a false step.

I have just read the letter by the DPM's Press Secretary Sarifuddin Ahmad rebutting an article written by RPK in this Blogsite and also RPK's reply to Sarifuddin.

As Press Secretary to the DPM, you should know more than anyone else that politics is all about perception. The real truth can be something else. The trick is, Sarifuddin, to move the perception and the truth of a matter both in the same direction.

Then you have what the physicists call 'resonance' - elections are won, leaders become idols, philosophies become written in stone and other such things - when you resonate.

My personal view is that lately, say over the past 20 years, the UMNO politicians have simply lost their ability to think things through properly, especially when they are in a tight spot. Even when there are no tight spots, UMNO politicians are not capable of strategising well or paying enough attention to that which is obvious and using their common sense. Hence they fumble easily and really look the idiot.

Your reply to Raja Petra's article is a fatal mistake, a faux pas.

I recall during the time of Anwar's downfall, there was a Chinese Muslim lawyer in Anwar's 'Institut Kajian Dasar' by the name of Faiz or something (who ran an expensive books shop too) who made the greatest mistake of making a Police report over the book '50 Dalil....' by Khalid Jeffri. That got the Police rolling which led them to reinvestigating the Police raid on the house of Dr Ristina in Bangsar. After that it was just a matter of tracing things backwards to nail the 'abuse of power' angle. Right or wrong, agree or disagree, that Police report started the sequence of events which led to Anwar's first trial for abuse of power.

Daim had advised Anwar 'Dont make any Police reports about Khalid Jeffri's book. Just leave it alone'. But just like you now, Anwar was concerned about public opinion and perceptions about him in the public eye. By the way has anyone seen or heard this Faiz character anywhere? Just curious.

Your reply to RPK has only given more credibility to RPK as well as to the Blogsite Malaysia Today. You speak on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. You have deemed it necessary to reply to a Blogsite that your cohorts have labelled as being run by 'bored housewives', full of lies, etc. It would have been better if you (or Datuk Najib) had chosen to remain silent and just ignore the Blog. Now you have muddied the public's perception even further. As I said the UMNO boys just cannot think anymore.

There is also some desperation that is perceptible in your reply. As I said it is all about perception. But in this case what has transpired so far in Court seems to create a resonance with the public's perceptions of the matter. That is a powerful combination. I refer the truth of the matter that has actually been established through the Court and reported in the Press. And they do not seem to favour your view. It will get even murkier if the court acquits Razak Baginda and/or Azilah Hadri. I dont know about Sirul.

Before saying further we must discuss again the unusual treatment of high profile murders in our country. There is a record of high profile murders not getting proper treatment (and remaining unsolved too) despite going through the legal process.

The first one is of course the murder of Mustakizah during the time of Megat Junid. I believe Mustakiza's murderers were never found. It was widely known that Mustakizah was having a relationship with the late Megat Junid and that she may have been pregnant with his child. Yet this angle was never explored in Court. The Court of Laws was satisfied but can you blame the Court of Public Opinion which was not very convinced - till this day?

Then we have the high profile murder of Siti Hasleza in Perak. This pretty girl was killed with a 'karate chop' and then thrown over a bridge onto some rocks while she was possibly still alive. The men who killed her were caught, tried and found guilty. But those tried included an Indian labourer, a bomoh type character, one minor royal and even a Chinaman (I think).

The question that the Court refused to pursue or investigate was 'what did the pretty Malay girl, who was the second wife of a Malay Royal, have to do with these jokers, especially the Indian labourer, that they wanted to kill her?' Does an Indian labourer working the fishing boats in Kuala Kurau get up one fine morning and simply decide 'Well today I am going to find a pretty Malay girl, preferably one married to a Malay Royal, kill her and then throw her over a bridge in Batu Kurau'?But this was exactly the truth established in the Court of Law.

Who can argue with that? It was a Court of Law. But the Court of Public Opinion knows that this was shoddy workmanship by the Court. Everyone knows that another woman was involved, who had hired the Indian labourer and the others to get rid of Siti Hasleza. But that woman was never arrested by Police, never charged in Court and never even questioned.

Just like in the Altantuya case where the AG's office announced way ahead of everything else 'Only three people are involved, we are not pressing charges against anyone else' the AG never went beyond the actual perpetrator's of the murder without investigating the dalang or conspirator behind the affair.

By law and by fact, it was established that the Indian labourer and the others had killed Siti Hasleza. There was no argument about that. But what was their motive and what was the overall motive behind the murder of the girl? Why did she have to die? The Court has sidestepped this question.

Now, Sarifuddin, do you think that the Court of Public Opinion is stupid? Do you think that the Court of Public Opinion cannot read, cannot question and cannot think? Until this day these questions about the Siti Hasleza murder remain unanswered. What do you suggest the Court of Public Opinion should do? Vote for the BN? Wake up.

Then we have the high profile murder of Norita Shamsudin in Kuala Lumpur. Norita was found dead by her room mates. She was found dead sprawled in her bed. When the Police were called, two Indian detectives were the first on the scene. This was reported from the Court proceedings. When they arrived, these two Indian detectives closed off the room door and spent about three hours alone with Norita's body. No other police were allowed inside the crime scene. Then early in the morning, the two detectives left. Nothing has been heard from them or of them since. They were never called as witnesses in the Court case. Have they been sucked up into the sky by alien spaceships?

But when the Police Forensics team entered the room after them, Norita's body was found in a different position - with her hands tied and stuff. What type of Police training is it where detectives tamper with evidence and distort the crime scene? And why would they want to do that in the first place? Is that acceptable Police behaviour?

Then they arrested a patsy, a fall guy, and made huge Press reports about him as though he was a serial killer. Then the Court case became a joke. From day one, the Prosecution team bungled and fumbled all the way, as though they wanted to lose the case, close the file and be done with it. The Defense just smiled all the way through.

It soon transpired in Court that witnesses had glimpsed another dark-skinned man, with a bad body odour who was in the apartment when Norita's friends came home. Someone even shouted at this dark-skinned, bad smelling man and saw him running away.

Then there was the case of Norita's handphone. Despite so many other handphone records being subpoenaed, records of Norita's phone calls on the fateful night she was murdered were never presented as evidence in Court. Why? Maybe like Altantuya's passport records, Norita's phone records have also been mysteriously erased.

And as can be expected, the poor accused, the fall guy, was found innocent and released. The murder is not solved. But the Police and the AG have since refused to reopen the case. My question is : most certainly they have Norita's phone records. Surely they know who she spoke to on the night she was killed. There was also DNA of more than one male found on Norita. Surely they could at least cross reference the DNA with some of the people she spoke to on that same night? Has this been done? If not why not?

So Sarifuddin, this was what was presented (OR NOT presented) as evidence in the Court of Law in this beautiful country of ours. Do you honestly think that the Court of Public Opinion will accept this type of shoddy and tidak apa simplicity? Apa you ingat kita semua bodoh ke?

Then we come to the Altantuya case. What was the motive? Why was she killed? This is a general question. And to be more specific why did Sirul and Azilah have to kill her? Sirul and Azilah never met her before. Did Sirul and Azhar just get up one morning and say 'Hari ini jom kita pi cari sorang pompuang Mongolia, kita culik dia, kita rogol dia, kita tembak dia lepas tu kita letup dia.' Maybe you would like to suggest that Sirul and Azilah were related (or went to the same school) as that Indian labourer in Kuala Kurau.

Do people just get up in the morning in our country and then go out and find exceptionally pretty young women and kill them by the most horrendous and unusual means? But this is what the Court of Law in this country will want us to believe. Sarifudin do you expect the Court of Public Opinion to be as easily convinced?

Then, just like in the Norita Shamsudin case, it appears that this case has also been thrown by the Prosecution. In the Norita case, there was a dark-skinned man, with a bad body odour who was seen running away. In this Altantuya case, a very straight talking Police woman testified that a Suzuki Vitara appeared driven by a man wearing a baseball cap. Azilah spoke politely to Altantuya who then got down from one car of her own free will and got into the Suzuki Vitara, alone with the man with the baseball hat who then drove away with her. That was the last time Altantuya was seen alive. She was NOT last seen with Azilah.

RPK has said that the registration number of the car and the identity of the owner have been made known. Yet the Police say they cannot trace the owner of the car or the person to whom he sold the car (if the car had been sold). This is really spooky. Betul ke ni?

But again we want to know the motive? Why would Sirul and Azilah want to kill a Mongolian woman whom they have never met before in their lives? And we know from Razak Baginda's Affidavit that there is a man by the name of Musa Safri. Musa is Najib's ADC. We know that as Najib's bodyguards Azilah (and Sirul) must take orders from Musa.

If there was no Immigration record of Altantuya ever entering or leaving the country did she slip into the country in a secret submarine (no pun intended)? Since it is not likely that she came by submarine, who erased her travel records and how?

So you see, Sarifudin, the Court of Law in this country has a terrible record of probing the right questions and the motives behind this type of high profile murders. Yet we are expected to accept the Court's findings because they are the findings of a Court of Law.

But the Court of Public Opinion does have its own mind. Sarifuddin, may I make a suggestion. If you just happen to know of anyone who is in the habit of resorting to, shall we say, draconian measures to solve their problems, please tell them to stop. There is more, much more to life than resorting to actions that we may regret later on. There are also easier ways to do things. Granted that the faculty of thinking may be quite retarded in this country, n'theless it is still possible to think things through instead of just blasting a way through the rocks.

As for Dato Najib, I feel that he is quite incapable of hurting even a fly. The guy is quite a limp noodle. Dr Mahathir says he is a penakut. The Court of Public Opinion will also agree that Najib is a penakut. The Court of Public Opinion will not likely attach much blame on him. But there may be stiffer noodles in his kitchen. Sarifudin, maybe Najib needs to get a new maid for his kitchen. Why live with indigestion? Think.

The monkeys strike back

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

These are signs that Umno’s factionalism will deepen and intensify as contending forces align and realign themselves for the party election, now scheduled for December.

Khoo Boo Teik, ALIRAN

Khoo Boo Teik looks back at how the people came together to collectively crack the BN’s supposedly shatter-proof hegemony.

Analysing the transformed political landscape, he discusses some of the fresh challenges that lie ahead.

If you’ve read or heard the tales from the Chinese classic, Xi You Ji (Journey to the West), you’d recall that the amazing cudgel-wielding 72-morph Sun Wukong, a.k.a. ‘Monkey’, first became famous for ‘creating havoc in Heaven’.

Long loved as an icon of recalcitrance,

Monkey swung as he pleased, shaking the established order and shaming the hirelings sent to suppress him.

In the 12th General Election of 8 March 2008, 49 per cent of the voters morphed, as it were, into one gigantic electoral Monkey and cracked the Barisan Nasional’s supposedly shatter-proof hegemony.

No more two thirds

Long-suffering voters spurned the ruling politicians and stunned their hacks and flunkeys by handing 82 seats to the alliance of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Democratic Action Party and Parti Islam SeMalaysia, thus breaking the BN’s two-thirds stranglehold on Parliament.

Collectively, Pas, PKR and DAP took control of five states – Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perak, and Selangor – besides winning ten out of eleven parliamentary seats in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

Overnight, PKR stopped being the one-seat party that the United Malays National Organisation had threatened to send into oblivion.

Instead, PKR added 30 more to the sole parliamentary seat held by Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in 2004.Nor was Pas beleaguered any longer with a precarious one-seat majority in Kelantan.

It won 38 out of 45 state seats in Kelantan and now governed Kedah, too.

For the first time ever, DAP took power in Penang by completely defeating both Gerakan Raykat Malaysia and the Malaysian Chinese Association.

In Perak and Selangor, the three parties formed coalition governments, however untidy their power-sharing process was (and however much they still need to formalise it to avoid being the playthings of non-electoral forces).

Caution v. confidence

The opposition’s unprecedented advance brought on a euphoric daze after virtually all the expert pre-election assessments were proven wrong, no less with the big picture than with the local scenes.

Take the magnificent Malaysia-kini. Its offer of ten-day free access caused countless surfers to jam its site on the evening of 8 March.

Yet, even the redoubtable Steven Gan had cautioned that 40 seats would be a realistic advance for the combined opposition, a figure, Gan later said, that was ‘not even close’.

Or take Anwar Ibrahim, seemingly the most foolhardy of the opposition leaders for urging BN’s replacement while others only targeted its two-thirds majority.

Anwar thought that PKR would do well to win 25 seats.

In fact, PKR became the largest opposition party with 31 seats.

In Penang, an ill-concealed intra-party dispute over who should succeed Koh Tsu Koon as Chief Minister showed that Gerakan expected to retain power.

But the four named and un-named pretenders to that position needn’t have troubled themselves.

The DAP deleted Gerakan from Penang’s political terrain (and Tsu Koon became the third of all three chief ministers, after Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee in 1969 and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu in 1990, to depart office in defeat).

Whose fear?

Beyond seats and states, there was a popular disdain for scare-mongering.

The mainstream media issued its usual anti-opposition warnings of instability, erosion of investor confidence, Islamic state, and ‘May 13’.

Some editors must have so believed their own propaganda that they were paralysed by the Chinese swing, the Hindraf factor, and the late Malay swing.

Why else, for instance, did The Star Online, late on 8 March, show no result except BN’s ’10 out of 10’ parliamentary victories?

Outgoing Selangor Mentri Besar Khir Toyo threatened ‘zero opposition’ only to be ejected from power.

Melaka’s Mohd Ali Rustam intimidatingly boasted that Umno could rule on its own – forever.

Now he and his ilk must rue Umno’s insecure dependence on the goodwill of the unlikely power-brokers of Sabah and Sarawak.

The arrogance of power

When the Malay voters revolted in 1999, in response to Anwar Ibrahim’s persecution, many non-Malay voters rejected the Barisan Alternatif’s call for Reformasi.

Instead, they helped to save Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno and continued to support Abdullah Badawi in 2004. Abdullah also recovered the support of Malay voters who badly wanted a closure of the Anwar affair.

But four ‘work with me’ years under Abdullah did not reward Malay and non-Malay voters with promised reforms, but with an ‘arrogance of power’, as Tsu Koon, after some soul-searching, has belatedly admitted.

Of course, it was Umno’s power, and, of course, it was arrogant.In ethnic terms, Umno soon reasserted its power.

Ketuanan Melayu was not to be questioned; the New Economic Policy’s restructuring would be extended; the so-called Malay Agenda was timeless.

Hishamuddin Hussein, with his keris-kissing antics, warned even Umno’s non-Malay partners, ‘Do not challenge us!’

Khairy Jamaluddin flashed his ‘My bangsa, right or wrong’ rhetoric and Umno Youth organised a protest of convenience against a pliant Gerakan in Penang.

In class terms, the power was flaunted by displays of the increasingly unaccountable corruption of the Umno-related oligarchs and the greed of new corporate groups with strong political cables.

On the other hand, mass protesters against fuel price increases and rising inflation were met by tear gas, water cannons and Red Helmets.

In cultural terms, the regime’s claim to moderation, via Islam Hadhari, rang hollow.

It seemed indifferent to religious disputes that blurred the jurisdictional boundaries between the civil and the Syariah courts, to the invasive body-snatching actions of religious bureaucrats, and to the insensitivity of Umno-dominated local governments towards incidents of temple demolition.

Reformasi's retribution

Within that context, the election result was retribution with a flavour of

Reformasi, albeit appearing late and not quite following the Barisan Alternatif’s 1999 script.

Once, many non-Malay voters could be persuaded that ‘A vote for DAP is a vote for PAS’.

This time, many, many more decided that ‘A vote against MCA and Gerakan and MIC is a vote against Umno’.

In short, the non-Malay voters snapped the BN chain at its weaker links.

They showed their contempt for the timidity of MCA, Gerakan and MIC, gagged and impotent Chinese-based and Indian-based component parties.

It was unlikely that Malay voters significantly swung to parties such as DAP or even PKR.

But in certain ethnically mixed constituencies, a late Malay swing or an appreciable Malay absenteeism at the polls compounded BN’s losses. In Malay-majority constituencies, the old Umno-Pas division was still evident, leaving the non-Malay swing to exert its impact.

The PKR’s present position is an ironic, almost un-Malaysian, outcome of the ethnic voting patterns.

A party some had written off emerged as a symbol of multi-ethnic politics.

Whatever its future, PKR’s leadership of a balanced Malay-non-Malay opposition has dragged Parliament from its old self of being dominated by BN and opposed by an entirely Malay Pas and an entirely non-Malay DAP.

New landscape

Many observers have likened this transformation of the political landscape to a tsunami, a perfect storm, or a surge of Makkal Sakthi (People Power) that outdid the Bersih and Hindraf rallies of late 2007.

The metaphors may be excessive. A true tsunami, say, would have swept BN out of office.

A perfect storm would not have bypassed Sabah and Sarawak.Yet, obviously, the transformation raises some urgent questions for an opposition that has begun to contemplate national power.

Breaking the two-thirds barrier was both a symbolic and real achievement. For some time now, the ability to amend the Constitution was not the crux of the two-thirds issue.

Power was, and especially Umno’s unassailable power within BN.

Without the buffer of a two-thirds majority, however, BN’s ethnic power-sharing formula may be in jeopardy.

If Umno insists on taking so many seats, to be able to rule on its own, it won’t be able to satisfy the demands of its 13 non-Malay adjuncts.

Actually, MCA and Gerakan had paid for Umno’s arrogance of power before, in 1986 and 1990.

As they lick their wounds, MCA, Gerakan and MIC might stumble upon a simple truth: Stop playing ‘Kapitan China’ and ‘Kapitan Keling’ (no insult intended) to Umno’s ‘Tuan Melayu’, or be irrelevant – as Gerakan, shorn of its Penang base, seems already to be so.

Watch out for old politics

Partly for that reason, Umno will strive to impose its old ethnic politics upon the PKR-DAP-Pas experiments in new multi-ethnic politics.

We have already seen the knee-jerk attacks on DAP for allegedly marginalising the Malays in Penang, on the Perak government for not having enough Malays in its Exco, and so on.

We’ve seen before these unscrupulous tactics of ethnic assaults from quarters that claim to be the champions of national unity.

When Parti Bersatu Sabah, the original, not the current ersatz one, ruled Sabah, Umno sanctimoniously questioned if the Muslims there could be properly accommodated under ‘Christian rule’.

When Pas ruled Kelantan and Terengganu, MCA, Gerakan and MIC would ask if the non-Muslims would be denied their rights.

Hence, a host of newly formed ‘Malay action fronts’, sore and vengeful losers, will waste little time organising demonstrations, orchestrating media disinforma-tion and fomenting ‘Malay anxieties’.

This manner of interpreting policies and practices in chauvinistic terms can only be defeated by a united opposition that can come to the rescue of all five opposition state governments.

The worst scenario, if the alliance fails, is for Pas to join Umno in condemning the DAP-led government in Penang, and for DAP to join MCA, Gerakan and MIC in criticising the PAS-led governments of Kedah and Kelantan.

In Perak and Selangor, the coalition governments can only escape such externally created problems by commitment to cooperation and collective responsibility.

Parliament and responsibility

Some encouragement may be derived from the sentiments of the opposition’s supporters.

It’s one thing to vote ethnic in an ethnicised political system.

It’s another thing altogether to regard all things in the stark light of inter-ethnic competition.

At least in the alternative cyberspace, voters, bloggers and commentators have admirably urged PKR, DAP and Pas to keep their differences to themselves, but, above all, to keep their alliance intact.

Not to do so, the voters know, just as the leaders of these parties must know, would hand back to BN what was painfully gained at the election.

The presence of the largest ever opposition in Parliament has amplified popular hopes of reforming the political system.

To this end, the opposition representatives must set out to raise the quality of law-making, monitor the Executive and discipline state institutions.

To do so, they must themselves be competent in diverse areas, capable of informed debate and committed to representing their constituents’ (and not merely their parties’) interests.

The opposition representatives, no less than the backbenchers, should realise that the public sickens at name-calling, trading of insults and histrionics that debase parliamentary proceeding.

They should learn, from Lim Kit Siang at his best, and the outstanding opposition figures of the 1960s, that dedicated parliamentary work requires a mix of investigative research, thoughtful arguments and courageous demands.

Economic management

The new opposition state governments should appreciate that they’ve taken power at a difficult juncture.

They don’t know yet how the deepening troubles of the United States economy will affect each state’s economy.

They should know that their scope for economic management will be limited by national policies and global market forces.

Even so, the opposition alliance must plan for employment creation, reasonable rates of growth, the alleviation of economic difficulties, and so on.

Never mind, for example, that short-term, limited-impact measures are dismissed as ‘petty populism’ by the New Straits Times editors.

That’s only the response of hacks who have fawningly publicised all of BN’s petty handouts.

For the medium-term, however, honest administration, competent planning and effective implementation must be the order of the day for PKR, DAP and Pas, just as it was for the original Gerakan when it captured Penang in 1969.

Renegotiating federalism


It’s well known that PBS in Sabah, and Pas in Kelantan and Terengganu had previously had to weather Umno’s wrath and the Federal government’s might.

Today, however, only the insane would risk impoverishing the national economy by strangling five opposition states and Kuala Lumpur which include the rice bowl, the manufacturing centres, and the seat of administration of the nation.

Even they would not thereby alienate the influential chambers of commerce and industry and sensitive foreign investors.

The most hostile might conspire to inflict on the five states the wang ehsan punishment that Pas-ruled Terengganu endured.

But it’s politically infeasible to re-enact what has been discredited and what people despise, especially in urban centres that aren’t so dependent on direct federal expenditures.

Foes though they are, the Federal government and the state governments are compelled to talk to each other.

High on the agenda of such talks should be a review of federalism itself, not by any means an unwelcome prospect.

Planning and action

On their part, the new and inexperienced state governments must realise this much. While resources are necessary, resourcefulness is indispensable.

It’s reasonable to ask for learning time; it’s imperative to learn fast.

It was fair politics to promise alternatives but it’d be suicidal politics not to act quickly, symbolically and meaningfully.

There is enthusiastic talk about engagement with civil society, participatory democracy and the restoration of local government elections.

All this may help to distinguish the old administrations from the new, and, where necessary, expose past malpractices in order to cleanse the administrative machinery.

Above all, PKR and DAP, whose grassroots structures are underdeveloped, must find ways to root themselves in society, as Pas managed to in Kelantan during its years of isolation.

The new governments should consult a spectrum of social and economic interests.

Yet, they should not yield to vested interests that reinvent themselves as the spokespeople of ‘civil society’ now that their links to BN have been severed.

For that matter, there are NGOs and NGOs, and the new governments should not pander to the ‘upper middle class’ character of many visible NGOs.

Unifying ethos

The true measure of good government will be its attitudes towards the ‘little folks’ of our society, including the lower working classes, the poor and the disadvantaged, small retailers, hawkers, petty traders, the smallest of the SMEs, and so on.

In Penang, for example, there’s no reason to keep beautifying the charming Western Road-Macalister Road-Residential Road areas.

It’d be better economics and urban management to clean up the inner city, rehabilitate decrepit former rent-controlled houses, and attend to the special needs of deprived neighbourhoods, whether these are Malay, Chinese, Indian or ‘Other’.

No one expects PKR, DAP and Pas to resolve overnight the differences in their visions of a better society.

From where, then, might come common ideological planks that they can use to build a workable raft of shared policies?In principle, the broad answer has to be a non-sectarian social democracy.

That can creatively fuse Anwar’s concept of a caring civil society, the Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s plebian concerns, the DAP’s old socialist claims, and Pas’s Islamic welfarism.

Guided by such social democracy – rather than, say, a neoliberal meritocracy – PKR, DAP and Pas can formulate and implement policies that would most benefit the non-rich.

After all these have been the staunchest opposition supporters and these would be constantly targeted by BN’s petty blandishments.

Turmoil in Umno

There is nothing destabilising about any of these.

Potentially destabilising, though, is the turmoil that defeat has visited upon Umno.

The Umno leadership’s new spin is that BN hasn’t lost the election despite Abdullah’s initial response, ‘We’ve lost, we’ve lost.’

To Abdullah and his allies, BN holds a ‘strong majority only eight seats short of a two-thirds majority’.

That is in fact so.

Nonetheless, the loss of the two-thirds majority; the fall in BN’s popular vote to 51 per cent; the failure to capture Kelantan; the defeat in four more states and Kuala Lumpur; the departure of several ministers; and the painful dependence on Sabah and Sarawak have intensified Umno’s chronic factionalism.

Much of that factionalism is tied to the loss of resources, projects and patronage, a grievous loss since Umno’s unreformed structures habitually mixed business with politics.

Another implosion

For now Umno’s turmoil can move in uncoordinated ways.

Political forces once pushed aside have re-surfaced to challenge Abdullah whose position is weaker than in 2006, the year of his big spat with Mahathir.

Mahathir has called for Abdullah’s resignation.

As if trying to be his father’s son, Mukhriz Mahathir has sent a letter to Abdullah in a farcical replay of Mahathir’s 1969 letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who had twice failed to secure the leadership of Umno, has offered to challenge Abdullah for the party presidency.

The Malay Rulers have intervened in the appointment of Menteris Besar in Perlis and Terengganu.

It will certainly be regarded as a defeat for Abdullah that both his nominees for Perlis and Terengganu were rejected and replaced by others more acceptable to the respective rulers.

The formation of the new Cabinet was fraught with disgruntlement.

The ambitious Khairy Jama-luddin simply had to be excluded.

But the excluded Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad resigned as Umno Secretary-General while Rafidah Aziz’s departure led to public disagreement with Azalina Othman Said.
These are signs that Umno’s factionalism will deepen and intensify as contending forces align and realign themselves for the party election, now scheduled for December.

If the past is a good indication, however, Umno could be heading towards implosion for a third time – after the 1987 battle between Team A and Team B fight, and the 1998 Anwar affair.

If that happens, it’d be the sort of political disorder that arises just as one system’s dying while another is struggling to be born.Whatever happens, those who helped to create this situation – necessary but insufficient for lasting transformation – were the wise and brave voters.

No more risk averse, they decided that change was better than stasis.Like it or not, love us or hate us, we’re all monkeys now.

(Aliran Monthly)