BERSIH 2.0

In conjunction with the BERSIH 2.0 event, this blog is now officially relaunched to view the latest political arena in Malaysia. Firstly, why BERSIH? The answer is simple, because it’s KOTOR!

Many of us believe that BERSIH 2.0 will remind us of what happened on the 10th of November 2007, when the Bersih Rally was first held in Kuala Lumpur (Dataran Merdeka and Istana Negara). The peace rally, organized by the NGOs and Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance – PKR, DAP and PAS) which was meant for good – aiming to reform the electoral process in Malaysia was proudly declared illegal, and worse still, the unarmed patriots, the innocence were treated well by the ruling government (Barisan Nasional) when the Malaysian riot police, or the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) served them with tear gas and chemical burst. This special response team, which supposed to be deployed to counter any emergency and public unrest were effectively used by the government to promote ‘democracy, Malaysian style’, as reported by Al-Jazeera English, an international 24-hour English news based in the middle east.

From the Youtube video showing the phone interview entitled ‘Menteri Bodoh Zainuddin jawab Aljazeera’, we can see the wisdom of the country’s Information Minister at that time, Zainuddin Maidin, as he proudly claimed that there’s democracy in the country when BERSIH was illegalized and the participants were dispersed with tear gas and water. This smart former chief editor of Utusan Malaysia (Malaysian Courier)- the so-called ‘penyebar fikiran rakyat’ (some call it ‘pencemar fikiran rakyat’), the most popular Malay language pro-government newspapers in Malaysia due to its truthful, reliable and independent news, had again successfully embarrassed the country by mocking at the Al Jazeera for taking the source of news from the opposition and not the government. He further added that it was unnecessary to hold the rally for the electoral system in Malaysia is clean enough to be relied on. As a result of the mass arrest and prosecutions done by the authorities, the Barisan Nasional government created a memorable history in Malaysia by losing its 2/3 majority in the general elections 2008, securing only 57% of the popular votes.

Tomorrow, 9th of July 2011, BERSIH 2.0 will be held officially, not just in Malaysia, but also throughout the world (United Kingdom, United States of America, Scotland, Ireland, France, Cabana, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and etc.) Despite the support, assistance and effort provided by the ruling government, such as demonizing the peace rally and its organizers Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and the committee members for being rebellious to the King and the country, accusing the opposition for attempting to overthrow the government through riots, banning the 91 influential figures from entering Kuala Lumpur, ‘protecting’ citizens with yellow shirts in police stations, having the police to set up roadblocks to smoothen the traffic flow and even sending 'encouraging' emails to the students (JPA scholars) in oversea, our Malaysian society has given good respond to participate in the gathering.

Many may question the possible result that may unlikely to take place after the event, in terms of bringing best benefit to the public and the country. However, what is more critical to us to understand is the importance of maintaining good governance in a country, in terms of credibility, accountability and transparency (CAT). Thus, we must not underestimate every single vote in our hands, for it is the collective power formed by every citizen that determines the bright future of a country. Every citizen has the right to voice out the weakness and shortcomings in government’s administration as it is indeed the citizens’ rights to decide the best for them and their children.

Some wise BN politicians gently ‘advised’ citizens not to be tooled and be fooled by the oppositions to grab the country’s administrative power, but are we ready to be used by the present authorities for a better country with ‘clean’ politicians and corruption-free government, promoting the freedom of speech and rights with Internal Security Act (ISA), respecting the freedom of press by acquiring the ownerships of all the main stream medias such as newspapers and televisions channels in Malaysia? Remember, the first BERSIH was able to attract more than 30000 Malaysians and tomorrow, BERSIH 2.0 is expected to draw more than 100000 patriots.

We are not alone, just that if you are attending this event in Malaysia, you must be extra careful, lest you may end up in police lockup, hospital intensive care unit (ICU) or …

Last but not least, have you registered as a voter?

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” - John Dalberg-Acton

That is the voice of the people.

MY VOICE 我的心声

Finally, I have made up my mind to open this blog to the public. The blog is named after the number of posts written through my hands. As I mentioned earlier in the first post entitled 'FOREWORD' , the blog was created after the Malaysian 12th General Elections in 2008. Since there were no new posts to be written last year due to time factor, many political news were not updated until this year. Currently, this blog reviews English, Chinese and Malay articles. However, this particular post is written in two languages to mark the opening of the blog, which voices out all different views of Malaysians in regards to the Malaysian politics.

After witnessing the great change in our country's political status, we are looking for a better improvement in our government. However, the effect of the tsunami has not come to an end. Many issues arise unexpectedly, not only in the Barisan National, but also in the new Pakatan Rakyat. As Malaysian, I am sad to see that our country has improved tremendously in terms of political stability, human rights, freedom of speech and crime rates. As a part of Chinese community, I am regret to see that our only Chinese-based political party in the ruling BN government, the MCA is still having internal warfare, which involves the leaders who are competing in gaining power, support and influence to achieve personal interest, instead of fighting for the future of Malaysian Chinese. As a student, I hope that with the presence of this blog, young readers will be able to understand more about the importance of politics in a country, for it does not only concern us, but it also affects our future generation. Let us have this hope that one day Malaysia will definitely be a better place for our children, and our children's children.

That is my voice.

终于，我下定决心将此部落格公开。此部落格的名取自于借着我手所写的文章的数目。正如我早前在序言所提到，此部落格是在2008年的马来西亚第十二届全国大选后设立的。因时间的缘故，我在去年完全没有在此记录与更新许多的政治新闻，直到今年才有跟进一些时事论坛。目前，此部落格有英文，中文及马来文文章。然而，此文是用双语书写，意表此部落格的开放，人民对马来西亚政治的不同声音也得以传达。

在见证了我国政局的改变后，大家都期望政府会有正面的进步。可是，海啸所产生的后果似乎还没平息下来。无论是在国阵还是民联，都掀起了许多意想不到的事。身为大马人，我为国家在政局的稳定、人权、言论自由和罪案率的不断改善而感到悲哀。身为华社的一份子，我为国阵政府唯一的华基政党因内乱不断而觉得心痛。领袖们不为大马华人的前途奋斗，反而为自个儿的利益不停地争权夺利。身为学生，我希望借此部落格，年轻读者能体会政治对国家的重要性。因它不单与我们息息相关，也影响我们将来的下一代。让我们抱着这个希望，盼望总有一天马来西亚对我们而言肯定会是一个更美好的地方，不仅是我们，还有我们的子子孙孙。

这是我的心声。

FUEL CRISIS

As usual, after the General Elections, fuel prices increase again. This issue is no longer a hot topic for the entire nation anymore because it meets our　nation's expectation. If we refer back to the history, perhaps one would say this has become the trend of BN government after every General Elections. However, things that matter to us right now is the government's credibility. Before PM Abdullah announced the petrol hikes starting from the 5th of June, Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Sharir did promise that the government will not increase petrol price but within the following 24 hours, BN government proudly presented a wonderful gift to the whole nation, which created an unforgettable sweet memory (nightmare) to all the fellow workers of petrol station in Malaysia.

June 12 midnight........
1.Petrol ( RM1.92 ......... RM 2.70 )
2.Diesel ( RM1.58 ......... RM 2.58 )

For many people, especially economists, it's reasonable that government increases the fuel prices due to the petrol hikes in its world market. However, as oil exporter, isn't it improper to make such a disaster all of a sudden ? After comparing with other countries (especially oil consumer like USA), many feel that it is ridiculous to increase our burden as Malaysian in this way. The opposition started to voice out their dissatisfaction and they began to question on this matter through different methods. Why is it that there　is no earlier announcement made to inform the public regarding this plan? Why the government does not take this step by step? The explanation given by government was made clear and simple, 'We have to follow the global petrol market, if the government will suffer great loss if we continue to provide subsidy for petrol price.' As everyone knows, once the fuel price increases, price for everything will also increase. Nowadays, many unethical business fellows will take advantage to find trouble with our wallets. However, the BN government is smart enough to handle this by employing 2000 unemployed graduates to perform 'spot check' in order to ensure that those people don't over-increase price of goods such asrices, salt and etc. This shows that the government does care for civilians' needs and welfare. Thus, be proud for being a Malaysian !

Example-

1 packet of flour (1kg) = 5.00(before) 5.20(after)

Then, the packet of flour is used for the following:

1 plate of fried mee 3.50(before)3.70(after)

1 piece of cake 0.50(before)0.60(after)

Can anyone recall the joke made by our respective DPM a few years ago when the same scenario happened? It　was indeed　very comforting for everyone, because this indicates that poor people will be the smartest group in Malaysia.

'Maybe this will make help consumers to be wiser in purchasing things that are needed only, instead of spending thrift unnecessarily.'

That is the voice of the people.

EMPTY OFFICES

After the General Elections in 2008, there were many funny and ridiculous scenarios happened in the process of adapting the new Malaysian politics. This is because both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat parties have to handle many problems after exchanging their roles, especially the five new state governments.

Among these problems, one of the incidents that drew our attention was the missing of documents in the state government offices, and most of these files are important and confidential records and projects done by the previous government. Many people think that there must be some unknown reasons behind this. But who knows ? Firstly, this had caused a lot of serious problems to the new government in carrying out their works smoothly. Secondly, what is the plot behind this ? Some of us may assume that some people were trying to eliminate evidence that against 'them'. Superstitious groups of people might claim that the state government offices became haunted after the political tsunami. Who are they? The 'Ghostbuster' (PR government and the public) should not give up to catch them.　

That is the voice of the people.

WORLD-CLASS PARLIAMENT

In the General Elections 2008, Pakatan Rakyat (coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS) won 82 (31, 28 and 23) seats to deny BN's two-thirds majority in Parliament. BN only won 140 seats out of 222 parliamentary seats. BN candidates who were defeated by PR include Acting President of Gerakan Dr Koh Tsu Koon, MCA Vice President Donald Lim, MCA Wanita Deputy Chair Chew Mei Fun, MIC president S. Samy Vellu as well as PPP President M. Kayveas. PR also won key parliamentary constituencies located in the capital cities of several states such as Klang (Charles Santiago) Petaling Jaya Utara (Tony Pua Kiam Wee), Lembah Pantai (Nurul Izzah), Bandar Tun Razak (Khalid Ibrahim).

The first parliamentary meeting shocked all the Malaysians when words like 'Bigfoot' and 'Big Monkey' came out from the respective YBs while arguing with each other. As representatives of the poeple, they should be able to control and abstain themselves from committing sins with their mouths, for example, MP from Kinabatangan (BN- Bung Mokthar) and Pasir Mas (IND- Ibrahim Ali) should not insult MP from Bukit Gelugor (DAP- Karpal Singh) by ordering him to stand up and talk. And even after they were found guilty by doing so, they refused to apologize for their misbehave in the Parliament. If any of you could still remember, there are some NGOs who represent the disabled had made request to these MPs with the hope that they could admit their fault and promise not to offend the disabled again. However, their attitude were so bad that especially MP from Pasir Mas even shouted to them, saying that he will never apologize for he did nothing wrong. He even claimed that he did not know that MP from Bukit Gelugor could not stand when he made the statement that 'Yang Berhormat dari Bukit Gelugor telah melanggar peraturan mesyuarat kerana tidak berdiri semasa bercakap'. If you have watched the Parliament on the first day, you can see he even laughed after he stated this.

Obviously, these people did not receive any warning or punishment, even the opposition MPs have been appealing for many times. Their request did not get any clear respond from the fair and just Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin from BN government. This matter should be taken into further consideration and immediate action should also be taken against these MPs so that they would learn how to behave themselves well while serving the people. Otherwise, they will remain like naughty kids who know nothing but create troubles and problems.

That is the voice of the people.

THE AFTERMATH

The 12th General Elections has now become a hot topic of the public and the issue is so popular that one can hear it everywhere, even in the public toilet whereas the central government started to question each other ‘Why would this happen?’ Apart from having their unexplainable curiosity, some began to blame one another for the shocking defeat. They should have realised the importance of this incident for them to learn the lessons from their past mistakes, instead of blaming others for the poor election result.

In fact, this phenomenon is still comprehensible because according to some experienced senior politicians, 'pointing at each other' is always a common practice or culture in Malaysian politics. Therefore, it is not surprising for the public to see BN leaders like Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Deputy PM Najib and formal Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh would still ask all the fellow Malaysians to stay calm and not to worry over the changes in state government. It seems like they were still unaware of the needs of the whole nation to change.

That is the voice of the people.

FOREWORD

This blog is created in conjunction with the Malaysian 12th General Elections which brought a 'political tsunami' to the country for the first time since Malaysia gained its independence in the year 1957. This is the first time in the history of Malaysia that the Barisan Nasional (National Front) government not only lost its administration in five states (Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor), but also lost its 2/3 majority in the Parliamentary seats. Thus, all Malaysians are now looking forward towards a better change in the government.

This blog consists of articles which collect news, evidence and opinions from all kinds of media, in which some may seem to be unacceptable to certain group of people. Anyway, we apologize at the first place for any contents of articles that may sounds offensive but our aim is to get the firsthand and truthful news for readers without any intention to blaspheme and slander persona involved or even cause disruption and tension to the society. Thus, there is no reason for any form of legal action to be taken against the author and commentators. Thanks for your cooperation and please do not hesitate to voice out your comments.